Global emails sent per day

As global email volume has grown, Americans have drunk more bottled water, a correlation of 0.978 that connects the inbox to the water bottle with the hydration confidence of a chart that treats email notifications and sips of Dasani as equivalent forms of refreshment. The email arrives, the water is consumed, and both numbers climb because a digitally connected, physically thirsty nation does more of everything every year.

Emails grew from about 250 billion to over 350 billion per day. Bottled water grew from about 40 to over 47 gallons per capita between 2015 and 2023. Both are growth curves in the same digital economy: more emails because more transactions, more bottled water because more on-the-go consumption. Nine data points, both up.

Nine years of emails and bottled water is a correlation between two forms of modern consumption: digital messages and physical hydration, both scaling with the same busy, connected lifestyle. The notification pings, the bottle opens, and both are consumed by the same person at the same desk.