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The Stanley Tumbler<\/a>, this year\u2019s smash hit, is, at first glance, a win for the planet.<\/p>\n It\u2019s durable. It\u2019s reusable. Unlike the throwaway plastic bottles it\u2019s meant to replace, it doesn\u2019t generate mountains of plastic trash.<\/p>\n But the craze has sparked some less-than-sustainable behavior. People boast about owning dozens of them<\/a>. When Target released special editions, including a much-coveted Starbucks version, it caused a mini stampede<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some trend forecasters say the fad is already over. \u201cSome millennials or Gen-Z are already embarrassed to carry a Stanley,\u201d said Casey Lewis, who writes the trendspotting newsletter, After School<\/a>. \u201cAnd we know what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d she said. They\u2019ll sit unused, gather dust on a shelf or in a basement, or \u201cworst case scenario, they\u2019ll end up in landfills.\u201d <\/p>\n Stanley mania is a story of how marketing, influencers and the power of social media converged to produce a cultural phenomenon<\/a>. Stanley sold an estimated 10 million \u201cQuencher\u201d water tumblers in 2023, and the company\u2019s total sales for that year are expected to have reached $750 million, up from less than $100 million in 2020. The #StanleyCup hashtag has been viewed billions of times on TikTok.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But the trend is also an example of how a growing universe of eco-conscious products \u2014 things originally marketed to be sustainable \u2014 can morph into a catalyst for simply buying more, potentially canceling out environmental benefits. Entranceways have become cluttered with totes meant to save us from the scourge of single-use plastic bags<\/a>. Cupboards are accumulating odd gadgets, like collapsible steel straws or reusable food containers, meant to cut down on the single-use kind.<\/p>\n \u201cThe point of a reusable mug is that, theoretically, you only need one. And you\u2019re replacing dozens or even hundreds of single-use cups with that one reusable mug,\u201d said Sandra Goldmark of Columbia University\u2019s Climate School. But if a person buys lots of those mugs, \u201cyou\u2019ve got a lot of water-drinking to do,\u201d she said, to make up for the environmental impact of manufacturing them.<\/p>\n There\u2019s evidence that sustainability sells. A study last year<\/a> by McKinsey that examined five years of sales data across 44,000 brands, found a clear correlation between consumer spending and sustainability-related marketing.<\/p>\n That study didn\u2019t specifically include Stanley tumblers. And for most products, switching to a more sustainable alternative wouldn\u2019t necessarily mean more consumption. You might not eat more vegetables just because they were grown sustainably, for example.<\/p>\n And most Stanley mug owners probably don\u2019t have museum-scale collections, or even more than just one or two. Even if they do, the climate toll would be far lower than, say, driving a gas thirsty S.U.V. or flying around in jets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Researchers have coined a term to measure the amount of time a person must reuse an alternative before it fully offsets the single-use product it replaces: the environmental payback period. A 2020 paper<\/a> found that for straws, coffee cups, and forks, metal alternatives had to be used the longest \u2014 anywhere from a few months to a few years \u2014 in order to break even.<\/p>\n Several things play into that long playback period. For one thing, making stainless steel is a polluting and energy-intensive process that to usually relies on coal, a dirty fossil fuel.<\/p>\n Stanley advertises that its products last a lifetime. (That they\u2019re built to last was proved in spectacular fashion when a popular social media post showed a tumbler that had survived a car fire<\/a>, the ice inside it still unmelted.) But more recent marketing has emphasized limited-edition drops and a dazzling array of colors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Stanley said it is making an effort to manufacture its products from more sustainable materials. The mug\u2019s manufacturer, PMI, which also owns the Aladdin brand, says Quencher tumblers are made with 90 percent recycled steel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But across all Stanley products, only 23 percent are made of recycled steel, according to the company<\/a>. It aims to raise that to at least 50 percent<\/a> by 2025. <\/p>\n Philippe Pernstich of Minimum, a carbon accounting software platform said that would be tricky. For one, there\u2019s a shortage of recycled steel because it\u2019s in such high demand. Making steel from raw materials is much costlier and energy intensive, and emits planet-warming pollutants.<\/p>\n Stanley said in a statement that \u201csustainability is a core value\u201d and that its products were \u201celiminating the need for single-use plastics.\u201d<\/p>\n Some tumbler brands offer trade-in or recycling programs. Companies could lean into that, Columbia\u2019s Prof. Goldmark said. \u201cWhat if they offered a repair or refurbish service. What if you could get your existing cup bedazzled?\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s all kinds of fun ways to let people have fun with your product\u201d rather than \u201cmaking more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n All told, there\u2019s no doubt that a culture shift to reusable bottles is good for the planet. Single-use plastic water bottles come with their own carbon footprint, release microplastics, and are rarely recycled<\/a>: the recycling rate for plastics in the United States has been stuck below 10 percent for decades<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think the nice thing about this \u2018it\u2019 water bottle trend, as silly as it may be, is it does make reusable bottles cool,\u201d said Ms. Lewis, the trend expert. \u201cIt makes people want to never leave home without one.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s already a new \u201cit\u201d bottle on the horizon: the Owala. Owala bottles are already all over college campuses, Ms. Lewis said. Their appeal: \u201cWhen you\u2019re drinking it, when you tip it back, you look like a cute little panda bear.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n