Why Costco Water Bottles Don't Have Labels Anymore, According To Reddit

Disposable plastic water bottles come in all shapes and sizes. Some are ribbed, some are smooth. Some have curves, some are straight. They can vary in height, width, and neck size, too, not to mention colors. But most of the best and worst bottled waters have a plastic label wrapped around the outside to advertise the brand. Recently, however, some Costco locations have seemingly ditched the wrapping on its Kirkland Signature bottled water, and Redditors think they know why.

One Redditor posted an image of a Kirkland-brand water bottle that, instead of having a wrapped label, has the branding embedded into the plastic bottle itself. Commenters pointed to a few reasons for this, including being more environmentally friendly and saving time and money. "A good direction to keep costs low and plastic waste to a minimum," said one Redditor. Others specified getting rid of the wrappers saves the producers money. Another proposed, "It makes it easier [and] more likely to be recycled," because glued-on labels take extra work to remove.

Many appreciated the change. One commenter wrote, "As a trash collector, I find hundreds of water bottle labels in the river I clean up. Yeah Costco!!!" Another said, "I try to refrain from using plastic bottles, but appreciate the continued reduction of plastic use by eliminating the label." Others commented on the aesthetics, writing, "I like the clean look." While another Redditor lamented, "The fact that they're naked is vaguely unsettling, but I can get used to it."

Still, while the change may indeed reduce plastic consumption, many Redditors still took issue with the concept of single-use plastic bottles, pointing out they're bad for the environment and can contain microplastics. Both are true. In 2021, Americans used 86 billion plastic water bottles, and 2023 statistics showed Americans recycled only about a third of those, according to Beyond Plastics. As for how bottles impact people, there are plenty of reasons to think bottled water is a scam. One study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed one liter of bottled water can contain 240,000 (plus or minus 130,000) particles of plastic — most of which were nanoplastics.

While getting rid of plastic labels may help the waste issue, it also might not. One Redditor pointed out, "The bottle is thicker, too, and not flimsy like the other ones." As a result, some customers have speculated the thicker plastic could point to more plastic being used to make the actual bottles, meaning plastic isn't actually being reduced.

If you're looking to be environmentally conscious, your best bet is to pick up a reusable water bottle or two to keep around so you don't have to keep dumping single-use bottles. Costco offers a few types of reusable water bottles, but you can also check other grocery or home stores like Target or Walmart.