From the Postmaster General
Creating a better, more sustainable environment
John (Jack) Potter
Postmaster General
and Chief Executive Officer
When the folks at the Postal Service set their minds to do something, they get it done. That’s our tradition. That’s what is behind our record delivery service performance, unmatched levels of customer satisfaction and a stellar reputation for trust.
And our people have brought that same focus, that same commitment to achievement, to our environmental efforts. Quite simply, we want to be the best — best neighbor, best business partner and the best place to work when it comes to sustainable business practices.
We have a big job, delivering the mail to more than 150 million addresses in every community in America. As part of that job, we want to contribute to creating and maintaining a better, more sustainable environment in every one of those communities.
We’ve set some demanding goals to help us get there and to measure our progress along the way. And our people are doing a tremendous job.
We said we’d reduce the amount of energy we use in our facilities a full 30 percent by 2015 — and use energy more efficiently, too. We’re well on our way to meeting that goal, with a reduction of 4 percent in 2009. That’s on top of a 17 percent reduction since 2003.
And we’ve taken it to the streets, too. Last year we reduced our dependence on petroleum-based fuels for our vehicles by 2 percent. We’re going to cut that by another 4.5 percent in 2010 as we close in on our goal of eliminating 20 percent of our petroleum use by 2015.
As the first government agency to publicly report its greenhouse gas emissions with our groundbreaking report issued in 2009, we’ve established an invaluable baseline to guide us as we work to scale back these emissions by 20 percent over the next 11 years. This is a goal we share with many of our largest partners in the world postal community.
Despite the effects of an economy that’s challenged our resources like never before, the Postal Service — and the mail — remains at the heart of our country’s national communications and financial systems. To serve those crucial systems, even with a substantial decline in mail volume, we maintain the largest network of buildings and vehicles in America. We’re going to do everything we can to serve America — efficiently, effectively and sustainably.
As I said, when our people set out to do something, they get it done. And creating a better, more sustainable environment in the cities and towns across America that we serve is no exception.
John E. Potter
Postmaster General
and Chief Executive Officer
