LIFE

What does Wabo stand for? Water bottle. That’s it. The name is quite simple but the mission behind the newest trending water bottle aims to go much deeper.

Chris Grippo, recent graduate from Elon University, is the founder of Wabo and decided to design this product after a study abroad assignment in Australia this past year. The assignment was to write about your own social impact movement, but Chris did much more than just write.

Chris decided that he wanted to make a water bottle that highlighted two things: the importance of bettering the environment and the ability to tell your own story. This water bottle not only makes it so that you never have to drink out of a plastic bottle again, but it is specifically designed so that the user can put stickers all over it to showcase themselves and who they are.

Made out of stainless steel, the bottle keeps the drink inside hot or cold for hours, and the bamboo cap gives the product an “earthy” and natural feel. It’s also BPA free, of course.

We dug deeper and actually talked to Chris about his new product and what he hopes to achieve in the future with Wabo. He even gave girls some advice on how to make your own mark on the world. Check it out.

GL: How has Wabo grown since you’ve created the brand?

Chris: It's grown in so many different ways. In less than a year, I've gone through at least five different website designs, dozens of different logos, tons of iterations of different advertisements, different prototypes and much more. The biggest brand growth, however, has come from self-referral. People seem to love the product, so they tell their friends and then their friends get a Wabo and then they love it and so on.

GL: Do you have a mission or goal for Wabo in the coming future?

Chris: As soon as Wabo has a steady and sustainable income stream, I plan on donating a dollar for every bottle sold to charity: water. For some background, charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Water and the environment is the reason why I started and has been the goal of WABO since the beginning.

GL: Do you have any advice for teens that want to start a business of their own?

Chris: At the risk of sounding cliché, the easiest thing is to just start. I've learned so much more in these last 12 months then I could have imagined. Experiential and hands-on learning is a wonderful thing. If you're in school, find a passion project and go for it.

GL: Do you have any advice for teens that want to live more sustainable lives?

Chris: A big one I always tell people is being self-aware. It all starts there. Being self-aware means being conscious of your choices—actually waking up in the morning and, instead of going straight into a mental auto-drive, forcing yourself to be aware. Once you understand that, it becomes way easier and habitual to not only lead a more sustainable lifestyle, but just a better lifestyle in general.

Wabo water bottles are sold for $25 on the Wabo website, as well as Wabo stickers for $2. The best part? There’s always free shipping.

How are you helping to better the environment? Is being sustainable important to your life?

Photo Credit: Wabo Instagram

by Kristina Lee | 6/11/2016