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# Buying in bulk Municipalities join city in switching to eco-friendly paper
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/buying-in-bulk-municipalities-join-city-in-switching-to-eco-friendly-paper/
- Published: 2008-03-05T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T18:45:09.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press Staff*

CITY HALL Santa Monica and the largest cities and counties in California have pledged to purchase only 100 percent post-consumer recycled copy paper as part of a collaboration to accelerate local, regional, national and international efforts to achieve sustainability.

Environmental executives of the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Pasadena, Santa Barbara, and the county of Marin have joined together to form Green Cities California.

Together, GCC members annually purchase half a billion sheets of office paper, at a cost exceeding $5 million dollars. By converting to 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper, the 10 cities and counties will see their governments save 67,000 trees, 8.6 million pounds of CO2 emissions, 19.6 million gallons of water, and 11.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

“Although Santa Monica has it easy on this one, due to the fact that we made the switch from 50 percent to 100 percent post-consumer copy paper in 2004, we look forward to working with GCC members to push for greater reform in sustainable procurement among other pending initiatives,” said Craig Perkins, director of the Environmental & Public Works Management Department.

In addition to converting to 100 percent recycled paper, the cities and counties are also committed to increasing double-sided copying and using multi-function machines to store documents electronically rather than printing them. Savings from double-sided copying and reduced paper use can more than offset any additional costs for purchasing recycled paper.

Future GCC collaborative campaigns will focus on the elimination of bottled water, purchase of local foods and carbon offsets; and promoting manufacturer responsibility for solid and toxic waste.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 5, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/030508.pdf?ref=smdp.com)