SARATOGA SPRINGS — Those attending the first meeting of a new sustainability task force on Monday want the city to reduce its energy use, add off-road hiking and bicycle trails, and increase local recycling efforts.

About 30 people offered these and other ideas to make Saratoga Springs a more sustainable city, a city that doesn’t use up all its resources so there is nothing left for future generations.

Ride a bike or walk to the store when you can, for example, rather than burning gasoline in your car. The new group is called the Sustainable Saratoga Task Force.

Saratoga Springs Supervisor Joanne Yepsen and teacher Amy Stock invited to the City Hall meeting people they know who are interested in things like better, safer bike trails or “green” building techniques that save energy and heating and cooling costs at the same time, and who believe in eating locally grown foods.

“Sustainability. What does it mean?” asked Stock. “It means you are leaving for the future generations what they can use and need, and not using up all the resources.”

“This is something I have been thinking about for a long time,” Yepsen said. She said more collaboration, more funding and more education are needed to make the city like others in the United States and Europe that have reduced their carbon emissions and use all forms of energy more efficiently.

“Think five to 10 years down the road,” Yepsen said. She and Stock then asked those attending to discuss the things they think the city must do.

One woman wants to see more recycling bins in the Broadway downtown area. Another person wants bike racks along the Beekman Street art district.

More people should think about taking the bus when they can’t bike or walk to their destination, one audience member said.

A bicycle trail was suggested over the pathway made by Saratoga County’s new water line from the upper Hudson River through the county to Luther Forest area in Malta where a computer chip manufacturing plant is being planned. Yepsen said this pipeline goes through a portion of the Saratoga Spa State Park and would make an excellent connector trail.

Another off-road bicycle and walking trail down Geyser Road from the Milton-Saratoga Springs border to the Spa State Park was suggested.

William McTygue, the city’s public works director, reminded those at the meeting that the city has been involved in “green,” environmentally-friendly practices for a decade.

McTygue discussed the award-winning project at the city’s former Weibel Avenue landfill that pipes methane gas from the old dump to cogenerators that turn the gas into the electricity that freezes the ice in the city’s two indoor ice rinks on Weibel Avenue.

The city has also entered into a $1.7 million energy performance contract with Johnson Controls that has provided energy upgrades to every building the city owns, including City Hall.

McTygue said this energy work in City Hall has made it more efficient, providing more control of heating costs in the historic building.

The work also included a new, more efficient boiler in the Canfield Casino in Congress Park.

“We expect to see real positive results and energy savings [this winter,]” McTygue said.

Yepsen asked people to sign up to be on one of the 10 task force subcommittees as she and Stock continue to organize the group.

“I need all of you, we are going to do this together,” Yepsen said.

Yepsen said Stock will chair the task force. Those attending Monday’s meeting signed a list and will be provided with minutes of the meeting. Yepsen has not yet appointed people to the task force but thinks a diverse group of between eight and 10 people might work well.