V. ENHANCE SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability — meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future — has become a business imperative. Increasingly, customers choose to do business with companies that operate in an environmentally responsible manner. The Postal Service has a strong track record. Since 1995 it has been honored with 37 White House Closing the Circle Awards. The Postal Service also won the Environmental Protection Agency‘s 2007 WasteWise Partner of the Year Award, the program‘s highest honor, for the eighth year in a row. To build on these achievements, the Postal Service will develop a conservation culture throughout the organization and form new partnerships with its customers and government. It will focus on two areas: expanding environmentally-friendly business practices and accelerating energy conservation.

1. Environmental Leadership

The Postal Service‘s approach to improving its “environmental footprint” is built on the principle of integrating environmental activities within day-to- day operations and engaging every employee to take ownership and responsibility. By working with mailers to reduce undeliverable mail, saving customers unnecessary trips, expanding the use of recycled and recyclable products, and minimizing potentially hazardous and toxic materials, the Postal Service accomplishes its mission while leading the way in environmental stewardship.

The Impact of Mail

The Postal Service has sponsored several initiatives to quantify the impact of mail, including the 2007 Environmental Impact of Mail study. The study showed that advertising mail has a net benefit to the environment by encouraging shopping from home, which reduces customer miles driven and harmful automotive emissions. In 2007 the Postal Service also reinstated the Greening of the Mail Task Force, originally formed in 1995. Participants include mailers, industry groups, suppliers, regulators (Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Office of the Federal Environmental Executive) and the National Recycling Coalition. The task force will drive a multi-year effort to improve mailpiece design, improve address and list quality, expand recycling and waste-disposal practices related to mail, and improve communication on the impacts of mail on the economy and society.

Supporting the Greening of the Mail Task Force is a life-cycle inventory model, prototyped by the Postal Service in 2007 to identify the environmental impacts of different classes of mail. The model covers the entire “life-cycle” of the mail, from mailpiece production through disposal, and identifies the most significant environmental impacts in the process. The Task Force will help refine the data and will use the model results to prioritize initiatives.

Enhancing the Value of the Mail

Today‘s customer is looking for convenience — convenience that balances necessity with environmental responsibility. The Postal Service is dedicated to helping mailers go green. In 2007, its free Priority Mail and Express Mail shipping supplies were redesigned, achieving “Cradle-to-Cradle” certification. The Postal Service is the nation‘s first shipping company to achieve this certification standard which establishes 39 criteria on toxicity, renewable energy, water use, recyclability, and other factors affecting human and environmental health. Cradle-to-Cradle certification assures that the packaging is manufactured to avoid harming the environment even after its useful life. Based on the annual recycled content of new packaging, more than 15,000 metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions will now be prevented each year. The Postal Service has begun to expand Cradle-to- Cradle to additional packaging and similar green initiatives throughout its supply chain.

Many consumers prefer to shop online and by catalog because of its convenience and flexibility. The Postal Service facilitates this process by picking up and delivering nearly 10 million packages per day. Besides saving time for consumers, postal delivery and pickup helps them reduce emissions and fuel use: rather than have multiple cars driving to the Post Office or the mall, one carrier stops at multiple homes. The Postal Service also delivers packages for other shipping firms, minimizing the number of total delivery trips to neighborhoods nationwide.

Businesses and households will find it easier to recycle or dispose of many products using the mail — including computer equipment, printer supplies, cell phones, rechargeable batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and prescription drugs. Through partnerships with business and government, mail is being used to properly dispose of products that might otherwise be harmful to the environment. For example, one state has partnered with the Postal Service to provide the nation‘s first program to help consumers dispose of excess medicines by mail. Consumers will be able to put unused prescriptions or unwanted over-the-counter drugs in pre-addressed, postage-paid pouches available at many pharmacies. The pouches are mailed to the state‘s Drug Enforcement Agency for proper disposal.