USPS reduced its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 7.4% last year compared to 2008 as its mainenvironmental achievement published in its fourth 2011 Annual Sustainability Report.
The US postal operator explained that the achieved reduction of almost 985,000 metric tons ofCO2 equals removing nearly 200,000 passenger vehicles from the road for a year. “These resultsillustrate the Postal Service’s commitment to reduce our GHG emissions 20% by fiscal year 2020,”said Thomas G. Day, chief sustainability officer. “Our ‘leaner, greener, smarter and faster’conservation efforts have placed us more than one third of the way to our goal and when the PostalService is more efficient, everyone benefits.”
Other important achievements outlined in the report include more than 400 Lean Green Teamsproducing significant results in energy reduction and resource conservation as well as greeninformation technology with data centres consolidated into two locations to maximise energyefficiency.
In addition, USPS has strongly expanded its fleet of eco vehicles with nearly 41,000 alternativefuel-capable delivery vehicles currently deployed. These include compressed natural gas, ethanol,propane, bio diesel, hybrid and electric three-wheeled vehicles. Between 2005 and 2011, USPSincreased its use of alternative fuels by 128%.
Supporting the ‘green’ fleet, more than 8,000 walking routes, over 60 bicycle routes and nearly75,000 “park and loop” routes are currently available, where carriers deliver mail on foot afterdriving to neighbourhoods.
“World-class energy management practices helped the Postal Service decrease energy use by 8.6trillion Btus from our baseline, more than 25%. This is an amount equal to the average energy usedannually by approximately 90,000 American households,” Day concluded. These achievements are inline with the company’s goal to reduce its energy use by 30% by 2015.
USPS has won numerous environmental honours, including the US Environmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) WasteWise Partner of the Year award in 2010 and 2011, the EPA’s National Partnership forEnvironmental Priorities award in 2011 and the Climate Registry Gold award in 2011.
