Quench Your Thirst Nalgenes Satiate Of-Roaders, City Slickers Alike

Author: Lynsey Waite Staff Writer

The summer before my first year in college, I marched through the doorway of Eastern Mountain Sports armed with a Middlebury Outdoor Orientation (MOO) trip checklist and suddenly felt any shred of confidence I had melt away. The store and the people in it were intimidating. I'm more of an ocean girl and had never done the whole woods, mountains and hiking thing before. I needed almost everything on that checklist, including the suggested two 32-ounce water bottles.

That sent me into a mild panic; how was I supposed to know what 32 ounces look like? Aren't 16 ounces equal to one pound? And isn't that a lot of water? But, in an instant, everything became clear. On prominent display were racks of hard plastic bottles, distinctly measured out to 32 ounces and bearing the name Nalgene in white lettering. So I bought my first two Nalgenes, moved to Vermont and lived happily ever after.

Nalgenes are everywhere on the Middlebury campus. On weeknights they are scattered around the Great Hall; during the day they swing from backpacks and take a place next to notebooks in class. Why are they so prominent on campus? Good question, considering they weren't even originally meant for everyday use.

In 1949, a chemist named Emanuel Goldberg started the Nalgene Company in Rochester, N.Y. Over the years, he and other scientists developed a unique line of polyethylene lab equipment. Polyethylene is just the chemists' name for everyday plastic, but at the time, these were state of the art developments.

As the scientists slowly realized the common conveniences of the lightweight, sturdy material, they started sneaking smaller bottles out of the lab for weekend hikes. In the 1970s Marsh Hyman, the president of the company, took several bottles on his son's Boy Scout trip. All of the campers loved them, and it was decided to officially expand the use of the lab bottles. The Nalgenes we know and love were born.

The Boy Scouts started the trend and from there it spread to serious hikers, rock climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts. In some parts of the country, that's where the story ends. In Middlebury, however, the popularity of Nalgenes became universal, and it still continues to grow.

There are three Nalgene sources in Middlebury, and they all do brisk business. On campus, the College Store carries a "Middlebury" bottle; 720 have been sold this semester alone. In downtown Middlebury, Forth 'N Goal has several Nalgene styles, and they sell 14 dozen a month. The ubiquitous containers can also be found at The Alpine Shop.

Middlebury students buys a lot of Nalgenes. In less than two months, the College Store and Forth 'N Goal combined have accounted for 1,056 Nalgenes sold, the majority of which were bought by Middlebury students. Also, don't forget that all incoming first-year students were given a commons affiliated Nalgene when they arrived on campus, which introduced them to this Middlebury trend and eradicated the need for hundreds of first Nalgene purchases.

But the question remains: why do we love them so much? Many people I asked were slow to respond, maybe having never considered why a Nalgene is a permanent extension of his or her body. The same adjectives cropped up again and again: sturdy, reusable, convenient. Overall, they're just useful. They won't break when we drop them outside Freeman. They hold enough water to get us through at least half a day. They can even hold boiling water. Still, take advice from Dave Heyman '03.5 and don't put a Nalgene directly near a heat source (like, say, a fire). It will eventually melt.

A Nalgene does promote certain images of crunchy or athletic students, all healthy and hydrated; impressions that are frequently associated with Middlebury. So maybe some of us buy a Nalgene just for the look it brings. Or maybe it's a combination of function and image.

Sarah Bunnell '04 gave her opinion, "It might start as an image thing; you come to campus and everyone has one. But then you grow attached to it. You can't survive without it."