What better time than today, Earth Day, to remind sustainability stakeholders worldwide that USPS has long adopted goals to reduce energy, water consumption, and greenhouse-gas emissions. Throughout the Postal Service, these are goals we are proud of and fully embrace. These reductions not only are right for the environment, they make good business sense.
For USPS, Earth Day also marks the day we release our Annual Sustainability Report (ASR). The ASR reports our progress in the goals above and showcases our commitment, efforts and achievements to sustainability.
The Postal Service’s sustainability efforts are based upon our call to action to be “leaner, greener, faster, and smarter” in support of the overall goal to deliver mail at the lowest cost, with minimal impact upon the environment.
There are three key components to our effort. At the foundation are our effort to ensure the Postal Service is in compliance with federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations. Second, we strive to make our operations and infrastructure as efficient as possible with minimal impact upon the environment. Finally, we look to assist our customers to achieve their own sustainability objectives through programs such as USPS BlueEarth®.
Among our achievements:
The Postal Service has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 12.4 percent between 2008 and 2015, and reduced facility energy use by 29.5 percent from a 2003 baseline.
More than 1,300 Postal Service employee Green Teams are helping build a conservation culture by finding low- or no-cost ways to improve resource use and minimize impacts on the environment.
The Postal Service has more than 46,000 alternative fuel-capable vehicles, which are primarily E- 85 Flex Fuel. USPS also has tested electric, compressed natural gas, bio-diesel and hydrogen fuel cell technology.
The USPS BlueEarth® Carbon Accounting allows commercial customers to determine the Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with mailings / packages sent through the postal network. This provides accurate data for their own GHG reporting.
The USPS BlueEarth® Federal Recycling Program provides government agencies and its own employees with the ability to securely and efficiently recycle unwanted electronic devices and toner and ink cartridges on a national level.
USPS BlueEarth® Secure Destruction is a mail service offering available from the Postal Service that integrates digital technology with physical mail. The no-fee service provides mailers with an option to have undeliverable as addressed (UAA), return-to-sender First-Class Letter Mail automatically intercepted and securely destroyed. The information required for these mail pieces is provided in a digital format.
The Postal Service has received several environmental awards for sustainability achievements, including the GreenGov Presidential award and EPA WasteWise recognition awards.
Even with all these successes, we work to do more! Since we’re in a unique position to serve nearly all Americans almost every day, we also try to help our customers “Go Green.” Our Priority Mail products, Shipping & Mailing ReadyPost products and even our stamps are made with recycled content materials.
Our message is clear; the U.S. Postal Service is committed to managing resources wisely to minimize mail’s environmental impact. Across the organization, from supply management to facilities to delivery, the Postal Service is integrating sound environmental business practices into day-to-day operations and into our organizational culture.
Leading by example, USPS is meeting the needs of the present, while planning for the future.