PCC Management Insights

“Staying in the Know”

Postal Service Amps up Its Green Cyber Presence
(January / February 2010)

If it has been awhile since you visited usps.com/green, it will be worth your time to take another look.  The Postal Service “green” Web site was relaunched in November 2009 with new features and updated content to keep you better informed about U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and other mailing industry sustainability issues.

Home page visitors are greeted with a new slideshow feature that provides links to help navigate to the main areas of the site:

•	Eco-friendly products and services — order free Cradle-to-Cradle certified packaging and supplies, learn more about Click-N-Ship, and visit the Postal Store.  
•	Greening your mail — helpful hints from the Postal Service, the Direct Marketing Association and other organizations to develop more sustainable mailing practices. 
•	Recycling — learn more about how the Postal Service is making recycling a priority and locate recycling centers in your area.
•	Innovation — information on the greening of Postal Service facilities and its vehicle fleet.
•	Direct and green — learn how to streamline and green your mailing lists and how to locate green printers.

Also new to the home page is an “In the news” section that provides the latest Postal Service sustainability news, as well as news from other organizations to help you live and work greener.

The home page also is where you’ll find links to the inaugural edition of the Postal Service Sustainability Report.  Published in November 2008, the report includes in-depth information on USPS efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and achieve its goals, including reducing facility energy use and intensity 30 percent, and vehicle petroleum fuel use 20 percent, both by 2015.  An update to the current report will be posted in April. 

Also featured on the home page is the USPS greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions report. The Postal Service is the first federal agency and the largest U.S. organization to publicly report on its GHG emissions.  The Postal Service plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020.  

The popular “skip the trip” calculator has a new spot on the home page.  This interactive application lets you determine how much energy and money you can save by using USPS online services.

The site also now offers easy access to Deliver Magazine, a publication dedicated to helping marketers succeed with direct mail.  Their online Green Room and annual green issue also are available via usps.com/green, offering in-depth coverage of eco-friendly marketing practices. 

The Postal Service Office of Sustainability maintains usps.com/green and is leading USPS efforts to build a conservation culture and promote environment-friendly business practices throughout the organization.  The revamped usps.com/green site is one of many USPS environmental achievements in 2009, including:

	Saving $3 million and nearly 100 million kilowatts in an agency-wide energy challenge.
	Avoiding $1.05 million in costs via green information technology initiatives.
	Helping customers divert 24,000 tons of paper from landfills by recycling in 6,000 Post Office lobbies.
	Increasing alternative fuel use 61 percent since 2005.
	Using electric, propane and natural gas delivery vehicles and retiring 10,000 non-energy efficient vehicles.

By meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future, the Postal Service continues its commitment to sustainability. 

For more information on the Postal Service's sustainability efforts, visit www.usps.com/green.  Also available is the Mail and the Environment workshop-in-a-box.  To view it, visit www.usps.com/pcc and click on the PCC Education link.  If you haven't already used this workshop, you may want to consider presenting it at one of your future meetings.