If 2009 has any one dominating color, it is most definitely green (see also: paper bills, color of envy, and greenhorn - novice member of Congress).
One form of green that has been spreading quickly is the low energy, environmentally benign kind. Given its massive operations and fleet of vehicles, it was inevitable that the United States Post Office would join in on the eco-friendly movement as well.
According to the USPS's environmental web portal, the 700,000-person organization has "embarked on increasing sustainability in our facilities with features like high efficiency lighting and HVAC, recycled building materials, native landscaping, low water usage fixtures, and low VOC materials."
USPS set goals in its strategic plan for cutting fuel consumption and enhancing the efficacy of resource conservation programs. More specifically, they are seeking to reduce energy consumption within the next six years by 30 percent.
Over 43,000 or 20 percent of the 215,000 mail-carrying USPS vehicles are now "alternative-fuel capable," a term which refers to bio-fuels, diesel, hybrids, natural gas, fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles such as the EPA-branded "zero emission" electric CitiVans. 584 of these are able to run on ethanol and exist in Minnesota. GM also developed the HydroGen3, a fuel cell-powered van, which has been tested in Washington and Texas so far.
"We're working with customers to reduce mail that's undeliverable, and we're working with other delivery companies to move mail and packages on shared transportation, saving on energy costs and consumption," reads the USPS green website.
Not merely content about leading by example, USPS is also working to "empower the American people to go green too." To get consumers to conserve and recycle, they created the PO Box Lobby Recycling program, which encourages customers to open their mail at postal facilities and drop envelopes, junk mail and discarded mail into recycling receptacles on-site.
Each year, the Postal Service purchases more than $200 million in products containing recycled content. Many of the containers that hold and move mail in the system are made from recycled materials, as are stamped envelopes, postcards, stamp booklet covers - even the adhesive used in postage stamps is biodegradable. Conserving hasn't been a total money-pit for the USPS either: according to a USPS news release, last year, "more than $12 million in revenue was generated by selling recyclables as raw materials."
Today, concerned citizens now have the option to use more eco-friendly packaging, including special Cradle to Cradle-certified packaging materials. These "greener" packaging materials are recyclable and meet more rigorous environmental standards than previous designs.
Another upcoming recycling program will allow consumers the ability to recycle old electronic devices, including cell phones and PDAs (the electric kind, not the touchy-feely kind).
Finally, USPS is encouraging the use of their online post office, which always a user to send packages from their home when a Postal employee delivers the mail, in favor of driving in person to drop off packages and letters. Visitors are challenged to "calculate" how much CO2 and gallons of gasoline they could save going digital for shipping.
Let us raise a toast (with ridiculously over-priced but biodegradable cups, of course) to the greening of the world, one post office measure at a time.
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