Caerphilly County Borough Council has saved more than 7.2million pages of paper over three years after councillors ordered staff print on both sides.
The green revolution was sparked after the council brought in 226 multi-function printers to replace the previous 968 machines including individual printers, fax machines and scanners.
The paper saving works out at almost £30,000.
Councillor Colin Mann, Plaid deputy leader and cabinet member for sustainability, said: “This Plaid-led administration is very conscious of the need to play its part in reducing the impact the authority has on the environment.
“The printing of documents has produced huge savings –almost £30,000 saved in paper costs alone due to printing on both sides. We’re saving an average of almost 50,000 sheets of paper every week which is great news, but we are always looking to do more.
“People are being asked to live a more sustainable life but t is important that the council takes a lead, and we are. Apart from reducing our impact on the environment we are also helping our balance sheet by cutting our paper costs and saving taxpayers’ money.”
Among the many other green initiatives, the council has programmed all of its computers to automatically shut down at 7pm if left on, while machines go into standby when not used for a short time.
The council has also recently been rated as one of the best in reducing its carbon emissions.
In his Annual Improvement Report, the Auditor General for Wales praised Caerphilly Council for its work in promoting sustainability and reducing its carbon footprint.