In an effort to save energy and protect the environment, the Suffolk Legislature [1]'s Ways and Means Committee unanimously voted to ban government offices from purchasing single-serving plastic water bottles.

According to Newsday [2], 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.

So far no opposition has surfaced to the measure, which is scheduled to come up before the full Legislature on March 18.