US Postal Service Delivers a Smaller Carbon Footprint

Aggressive work to cut energy use in facilities helped the U.S. Postal Service reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent since 2008 and put the agency solidly on track to achieve its environmental performance targets for 2020.

The postal service has committed to a 20 percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions, compared with 2008 levels, by 2020. “Our leaner, faster, smarter energy reduction and conservation efforts have placed us more than one third of the way to our goal,” said Emil Dzuray, acting USPS chief sustainability officer, in a statement released Friday with highlights of the agency’s environmental progress.

The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions enabled the postal service to avoid release of more than 1 million metric tons of CO2 — an amount the agency said is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 204,000 passenger vehicles.

The postal service credited increased energy efficiency, conservation and efforts by the 400 Lean Green Teams for reining in consumption in the USPS’s 32,000 facilities. That work accounted for about half the cut in GHG emissions.

Offering a deeper look at energy use in facilities, the USPS said emissions related to energy consumption at sites sank 12 percent from FY 2008 to FY 2010. And across a seven-year period, facilities energy use fell 29.4 percent, 9.9 trillion BTUs, from FY 2003 to FY 2010; the postal service said the energy saved was about enough to power 100,000 average American households for a year.

The agency also recapped figures it submitted for the federal government’s first GHG emissions report, which covered the past fiscal year. The USPS reported a 9.5 percent drop in facility energy and fuel use and a 7 percent reduction in contracted transport, wastewater and solid waste.

The postal service said other elements contributing to its environmental performance are its:

• Use of more than 44,000 alternative fuel-capable vehicles. The agency’s green fleet represents slightly more than 20 percent of its rolling stock, which includes some 215,625 vehicles. The postal service lays claim to having the largest civilian fleet in the world.
• Work as a Cradle to Cradle certified mailing and shipping organization. USPS provided more than 27 billion Cradle to Cradle certified stamps and shipping supply items to customers during the past fiscal year. The agency received its Cradle to Cradle certification in 2007 and was the first shipping company to attain the designation.

Overall, savings and revenue generation resulting from the postal service’s work to green its operations have provided some of the few brights spots in the agency’s finances. The USPS ended the first quarter of its current fiscal year, which began October 1, 2010, with a net loss of $329 million compared to a net loss of $297 million for Q1 of fiscal year 2010. In contrast, in the past fiscal year the agency saved more than $14 million by reducing energy, water, waste and fuel use and by sending less trash to landfills, which charge fees. Recycling also helped the postal service make money: The agency netted $13 million in revenue from recycling 222,000 tons of material.

The postal service’s environmental push is mirrored by international efforts. The International Post Corporation, established in 2008 with the USPS among its charter members, also has a goal of cutting the aggregate carbon footprint of its members by 20 percent by 2010. The international group reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent, according its sustainability report last fall.

In addition to its 20-by-’20 GHG emissions target, the U.S. Postal Service also has a goal of reducing the energy intensity of its facilities — the amount of energy used per square foot — 30 percent by 2015. As of 2009, the agency’s energy intensity had fallen by more than 21 percent.

Photo of the green roof at the USPS Morgan Processing and Distribution Center in Manhattan, image from the U.S. Postal Service.