When walking around school hallways or in the cafeteria, some students noticeably have water bottles covered in stickers. In the last several years, this trend has only grown. Many stores have stickers for sale and websites like Amazon offer large sticker bundles. No matter the sticker source, each beat up water bottle covered in fraying stickers has the opportunity to tell a story about its owner. 

For some, water bottle stickers are a tradition. Each time they go somewhere, they purchase one as a souvenir. Then, they put them on their water bottle as a token to remember their experiences.

“I play lacrosse, so whenever I go to a tournament, I always collect goat stickers,” Alessia Leo (’28) said. 

Jawad Akand’s (’26) reason for starting to collect water bottle stickers may seem random: he wanted to buy a bag of chips, but faced a minimum credit card purchase requirement. To meet it, he decided to buy his first water bottle sticker, initiating a continued passion. 

“I’ve been collecting them since I was a jit, [or youngster]” Akand (’26) said.

Some teachers are known to give out stickers that some students put on their water bottles. 

“My music teacher gave them to me and I put them on my water bottle,” Lydia Bitner (’28) said. “I think they make [water bottles] have more personality because otherwise [they’re] just blank.”

While the allure of water bottle stickers may be intriguing, there are barriers to starting a collection. 

“I can’t afford [stickers],” Spencer Garzoni (’28) said. “[My dream water bottle sticker would be] one with my name on it.”

Some who can afford water bottle stickers have found that their lives have been enriched by them.

“They look fun, and I can make up a story with them,” Paige Davenport (’29) said.

Many people collect water bottle stickers from different people and places, so when woven together the stickers can create a narrative that tells a lot about the owner of the water bottle 

“My water bottle stickers are unique and let me show my true colors,” Melindi Rogers (’26) said.

At the same time, water bottle stickers can add joy to one’s life. 

“I put stickers on my water bottle because they add so much life to a blank slate and it makes it colorful and not so dull,” Mera McCulloch (’26) said.

No matter what, putting stickers on a water bottle is a practical way to use stickers, especially since many students may have an abundance of them. 

“Where else am I supposed to put them,” Akand said.