ENCINITAS -- Encinitas is asking people help to reduce the city's paper bill by viewing more documents online.

The request coincides with efforts by a council member and an environmental advocate to increase the use of recycled paper at Encinitas City Hall.

A notice printed in last Wednesday's City Council agenda states that the city posts electronic versions of the document at the same time its print versions are published at 3 p.m. Thursdays before the Wednesday meetings.

And if any one of the 22 parties who regularly receives the printed packages doesn't need all that paper, the notice encourages contacting the city clerk.

"Sometimes people just aren't interested in a lot of the stuff," City Clerk Deborah Cervone said. By viewing the document online, people can read or print only the sections that interest them.

Cervone said she does not know how much the city would save by reducing the number of agendas it prints, but that the electronic versions contain all of the attachments and exhibits included in the printed packets.

Many cities, school districts and other agencies have taken to posting agendas and other documents on their Web sites. Like Encinitas, Solana Beach has an electronic notification system that sends e-mails to anyone who signs up to receive them. The memos alert people when documents are published and offer information about other city business.

The City Council agenda distribution list includes the five council members, department heads and three newspapers, including the North County Times. Agendas also are provided free to community groups such as the Encinitas and Cardiff chambers of commerce, Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association, the Encinitas Taxpayers Association and town councils in Cardiff and Leucadia.

As part of a so-called "e-government" initiative, city officials encourage residents to visit the Encinitas Web page to view agendas from the council and its eight advisory panels. Minutes are posted, and so are old agenda reports and numerous other documents.

Some residents can pay their water bills online at the site.

Last week, the agenda portion of the city's Web page received 122 visits, according to the city's webmaster.

Despite the online resources, Encinitas last year spent $10,900 on copy paper, according to figures from the finance department.

That might seem like small change for a city with a $42 million operating budget, but officials and activists say they're all for the economic and environmental benefits of using less paper.

"It's a good gesture," said Barbara Cobb of the Cardiff Town Council. "Save a penny and pretty soon you have a dollar."

One tall stack

City Council agendas alone consume thousands of sheets of paper a year. When placed in a single stack, the council agendas for 2006 make a column 33 inches tall. Multiply that by the 22 copies the city prints and the stack grows to 60 feet, about the height of the bluff at Swami's Beach.

The total paper consumption at City Hall would produce a much taller stack.

According to the finance department, Encinitas purchased 363 cases of paper in 2006. That translates to 1.82 million sheets, which would produce a 450-foot-tall stack. The smoke stack at the Encina Power Station in Carlsbad, by contrast, is 400 feet tall.

"Paper consumption is huge," said Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan. "For a high percentage of the boards I'm on, I can get the information online and only print out what I need."

But not everyone wants to download electronic agendas.

Cobb said that with the high cost of toner for computer printers, she will not print large city reports on her home computer.

"When I need the packet, I need it," she said. "I will not take my name off (the distribution list) because I do need it sometimes."

Cobb said she prevents waste by using the blank sides of pages from city agendas in her own computer printer.

Houlihan said that raises a point: City Council agenda reports, like those of the Planning Commission, should be printed on both sides of the page.

Russell Levan of the Encinitas-based Solana Center for Environmental Innovation said the city could realize even more savings by printing some of its documents horizontally and producing booklets.

Levan, an Encinitas resident, is director of the center's recycled products cooperative. The co-op uses the bulk buying power of its members to receive discounts on recycled copy paper, which generally is more expensive than virgin paper.

More than 90 cities across the country belong to the co-op, Levan said. Encinitas is a former customer.

"They used to get their paper through us," he said. "I don't care who they're getting it from as long as it's recycled."

The city buys a small percentage of 100 percent recycled paper, but most of it is made with 30 percent recycled content, said Darlene Hill, finance manager.

Recycled paper, Levan said, is defined by its "post-consumer content," or how much of the sheet existed previously as a paper product.

The quality of recycled paper is improving, he said, adding that consumers using it now have far fewer problems with dust and debris clogging printers and copy machines.

"There's 100 percent recycled paper that's very high-quality paper," Levan said. "It typically is more expensive, which is the problem."

Encinitas paid $31.60 per case for 30 percent recycled copy paper earlier this month, records show; at the Solana Center, a case of 100 percent recycled paper can be purchased for $40.

Producing recycled paper uses far less water, energy and trees than producing paper from timber, Levan said.

The federal government and a number of state agencies require purchasing copy paper made with at least 30 percent recycled material, he said.

Paper cuts

The city of Seattle uses 100 percent recycled paper almost exclusively, Levan said. In that city, the mayor has challenged employees to reduce paper consumption as part of an initiative called PaperCuts. A graphic on the city's Web site shows that in 2003, Seattle consumed 73.9 million sheets, which would produce a stack more than 10,000 feet taller than Mount Rainier.

In Encinitas, the management encourages frugality with paper, "but we probably don't do it often enough or well enough," said City Manager Phil Cotton.

Last week, the City Council voted unanimously to approve a $287,000 lease-to-own contract for 13 copy machines and other office equipment. The new machines are more efficient and double as fax machines and computer printers, Cotton said.

For certain jobs -- such as color printing -- a user must type a password on the machine itself as a way to prevent abuses and avoid waste.

Much of the waste paper churning through Encinitas City Hall ends up in mixed paper recycling bins, said Bill Wilson, a public works department management analyst.

The city has three bins that can hold 3 cubic yards of waste paper for recycling. The bins are emptied twice a week, he said.

During a discussion last week of the lease agreement for the new office equipment, Encinitas staffers told the council that improved financing terms would bring more than $8,400 in savings to the city over the life of the five-year contract.

Houlihan after the meeting said she would support using some of that money to purchase 100 percent recycled paper.

"If you don't start supporting recycled products, you're never going to get the prices down," she said. "The new equipment we're contracting for can use a higher percentage of recycled content. I want us to really look into that."

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com.

Web links:

City of Encinitas Web site

http://www.ci.encinitas.ca.us/

Solana Center for Environmental Innovation Web site

http://www.solanacenter.org/

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