This Clean Your Files Day (CYFD) section highlights some ideas that you should be thinking about to plan a successful event. The ideas listed here are not requirements for a CYFD, they are merely suggestions based on the previous year’s events held throughout the United States. Make CYFD a USPS Earth Day event. CYFD coincides with the week of Earth Day, but it does not need to occur on a specific day; it can be any day during the week of Earth Day. It takes a group of people to carry out a CYFD event. Consider who should be involved in the event, and find a person from each function at your facility willing to help with the planning. You should include the facility manager, members of the safety and health committee, and union representatives. This effort can increase recycling revenue for the Postal Service and reduce the space required to store records. In addition, facilities that are closing can use the CYFD event to eliminate the need to relocate obsolete records. For this special event, notify employees well in advance so everyone can plan sufficient time to purge their files. Arranging this event is as simple as following the seven-step instructions set forth below. Before initiating such an event, there are two prerequisites for success:
Step 1: Obtain facility management commitment.
Step 2: Identify a recycler for this collection event. If your office is already recycling, this is an easy step and requires nothing more than collecting the mixed paper grades currently accepted by your recycler. In all cases, be sure of the following:
n The vendor agrees to pick up the CYFD paper. Preferably, paper that is purged from your files should generate revenue for USPS.
n The vendor provides guidance as to permissible and impermissible items to be recycled from the CYFD event.
n The event is organized so as not to impact USPS mail operations.
n The vendor agrees to share data on the amount recycled.
n The vendor can shred papers that are subject to privacy standards.
Once you have accomplished the first two steps, there are only five more tasks to complete a successful hosting of a CYFD recycling event:
Step 3: Make containers available for collecting the paper purged for recycling.
Step 4: Set a date and time for the CYFD event. Remember you can hold this event after Earth Day if it is more convenient for your employees and USPS operations.
Step 5: Post workroom and breakroom notices about the CYFD event. Sample notices are available on the Office of Sustainability Earth Day website.
Step 6: Hold the CYFD as either a half-day or full-day file purging effort with containers placed in designated areas. There should be at least one person available to provide guidance on recycling procedures and coordinating collection of the recyclables.
Step 7: Once the event is over, be sure the recyclable paper is deposited into the recycling vendor’s container or other collection equipment. Request the recycler to provide a report on the tonnage of CYFD paper collected. Share the results with USPS Office of Sustainability by emailing
sustainability@usps.gov.
Posters, notices, signs, placards, and questions and answers on hosting a successful CYFD event are available for download at the Office of Sustainability website at http://blue.usps.gov/sustainability/earthday.htm. You can also find record-retention guidance and links to the electronic Record Information System (eRIMS) at https://erims.usps.gov/erims/erims.
