Postal Service Encourages Ride Sharing

Postage Stamps Help America Go Green

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Americans focus on autumn activities and to-do lists, the Postal Service's Go Green Forever stamps remind everyone to consider using ride sharing and public transportation as easy ways to save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

"The Postal Service became a lot greener last year," said Thomas Day, chief sustainability officer. "From fiscal years 2008 to 2010, we reduced our total greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent, the equivalent of taking more than 204,000 passenger vehicles off the road for an entire year."

Included in the GHG emissions reductions are emissions from sources including employee commuting. The Postal Service's reductions can be attributed in part to the agency's culture of conservation and a commitment to sustainable business practices and employee green initiatives. USPS encourages employees to share rides and use public transportation whenever possible to help save fuel and reduce GHG emissions.

"Postal Service employees take pride in conserving fuel, energy and other resources," Day added. "More than 400 Lean Green teams work to implement low- and no-cost ways to conserve natural resources and reduce costs, and they helped USPS save more than $5 million in fiscal year 2010 alone. Leaner, greener, faster and smarter is our sustainability call to action. It's environmentally responsible and a good business decision."

Details of USPS GHG emissions reduction results can be found in the FY 2010 Annual Sustainability Report. For additional information about USPS sustainability initiatives and the Go Green Forever stamps, visit about.usps.com/green and the Green Newsroom.

USPS has won more than 75 environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle, 10 Environmental Protection Agency WasteWise Partner of the Year, Climate Action Champion, Direct Marketing Association Green Echo awards, Postal Technology International Environmental Achievement of the Year and Climate Registry Gold Status Recognition.

USPS participates in the International Post Corporation's Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System, (an international postal industry program) to reduce participating posts' carbon footprint 20 percent by 2020 based on a fiscal year 2008 baseline.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

We're everywhere so you can be anywhere:  uspseverywhere.com

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional about this topic, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

To obtain high-resolution images for media use only, email [email protected].

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service