Why does everyone in Britain carry water bottles these days? On a dog walk in London a few days ago, a friend asked – with genuine concern – whether I had left mine behind. She could not comprehend that I might have ventured out without one. The very next day I bumped into a well-respected man in his forties – a councillor, no less – who breezed past with the words: ‘Sorry, can’t stop. Just popping out to get a water bottle. I’ve lost mine.’

The water bottle is the perfect modern accessory: faintly virtuous, mildly performative and entirely unnecessary

The water bottle is the perfect modern accessory: faintly virtuous, mildly performative and entirely unnecessary

I cannot pinpoint when these Chinese cylinders became a necessity. As a child, we simply…went outside. Occasionally, we became thirsty. Eventually we encountered water. It was all very straightforward. But nowadays, it seems that no one travels anywhere without one. Children are packed off to school each day clutching their bottles. Grown ups take them to work with them. Why?

Does anyone actually know someone who has........

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