Green Daily

Next Tuesday, a bill will go before the Suffolk County legislature banning single-serving water bottles from all government buildings. As far as I can tell, the law wouldn't outlaw bringing a bottled water into a government office -- it just bans all government offices from spending money on the supposed eco-menaces. Aren't plastic bottles going to be the next plastic bag?

Supporters point out that "the manufacture of plastic bottles consumes more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, and another 41 million barrels are wasted in filling, transporting, cooling and disposing of bottles." And while those figures are pretty impressive, I don't think anything that the Suffolk County government does is going to make a dent. Aren't plastic bottles recyclable anyway?

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I hate to say it, but it looks like another example of politicians trying to grandstand on feel-good "green" initiatives. Just last week, we found out that the claims being made about plastic bags were phony. I wonder whether plastic bottles will be any different? It seems more important to point out that plastic bottles are a complete waste of money, since numerous studies have found that tap water is just as good or better in most places in the US.