u.s. postal service annual report 2012 - "earthscapes: seeing our world in a new way"

U.S. Postal Service 2012

sustainability reportEarthscapes: seeing our world in a new way Photographs taken by NASA satellites and photographers in aircraft

1 Total GHG reported in million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) equivalents (MTCO2e), energy usage restatements resulted in GHG emission adjustments.

2 Total facility energy use reported in BTU or British Thermal Units. FY 2010 and FY 2011 were recalculated to reflect standardized methodology and calculations approaches.

3 Transportation fuel use includes postal-owned, leased and contract fuel use, reported in GGE or Gasoline Gallon Equivalents (see 5 & 6)4 Postal vehicle petroleum fuel use FY 2005 baseline revised to reflect changes in historical data collection methodology.5 Solid waste and recycling values recalculated based on methodology and tracking procedure improvements.6 Contract transportation petroleum fuel use was recalculated to incorporate boundary reporting adjustments to international contract air

service for FY 2010 and FY 2011, which also affected Scope 3 GHG emissions.7 Refer to “Sustainable Acquisition and Purchasing” to learn more about performance target changes under consideration.

2012 U.S. Postal Service — Key Performance Indicators

Units 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Revenue $ billions $74.93 $68.09 $67.05 $65.71 $65.22

Net profit (loss) $ billions ($2.81) ($3.79) ($8.50) ($5.07) ($15.91)

Mail volume Billion pieces 202.70 176.74 170.86 168.30 159.86

Delivery points Million points 149.19 150.12 150.86 151.49 152.15

Career employees Number of employees 663,238 623,128 581,775 557,251 528,458

Post Offices, plants and administration

Number of facilities 34,175 33,264 33,620 33,260 32,604

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 1

Million MTCO2e 13.38 13.03 12.55 12.15 12.06

Facility energy use 2 Trillion BTU 30.7 25.7 25.3 24.2 22.3

Transportation fuel use 3 Million GGE 729.7 720.5 716.5 711.4 726.0

Solid waste recycled 4 Short tons 284,708 214,682 221,655 215,879 253,908

2012 USPS Sustainability Target Snapshot

Focus Objective and Target Baseline FY 2012Progress (percent

change from Baseline) Status

GHG EmissionsReduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 20% by FY 2020 (million MTCO2).

13.38FY 2008

12.06 (9.9%)

Facility Energy UseReduce total facility energy use 30% by FY 2015 (trillion BTU).

33.72FY 2003

22.30 (33.9 %)

Transportation Fuel

Reduce total postal-vehicle petroleum fuel use 20% by FY 2015 (million GGE).

142.27FY 2005 5

148.83 4.6%

Reduce total contract transportation petroleum fuel use 20% by FY 2020 (million GGE).

580.13FY 2008 6

574.92 (0.9%)

Increase postal-vehicle alternative fuel use 10% annually by FY 2015 (million GGE).

0.94FY 2005

2.26 140.7%

Solid Waste Diversion-Recycling

Divert 50% of solid waste from landfill to recycling by FY 2015.

44%FY 2008

48% (3.7%)

Water Reduction Reduce water use 10% by FY 2015 (million gallons).

5,456 FY 2007

3,375 (38.1 %)

Reduce Consumables Reduce spending on consumables 30% by FY 2020 ($million).

508.4FY 2008

310.9 (38.8 %)

Environmentally Preferable Products 7

Report year to year environmental preferable products purchased ($millions).

$288 millionFY 2011

$295 millionFY 2012

N/A N/A

Achieving goal On-target Off-target

The Postal Service is an organization like no other. We’re in every community in every state, and we deliver mail to every address. This gives us a special responsibility to be good neighbors.

One way we honor this commitment is through our leadership in sustainability. Our goal is to provide reliable, affordable mail delivery with minimal impact on the environment. We’re making progress.

The Postal Service has cut energy use more than 30 percent since 2003. Last year, we recycled several hundred thousand tons of paper and other material. We’re also working with other leaders in our industry to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

I’m proud of our success, but the job is far from done. I hope you’ll read this report to learn more about our efforts to become more sustainable and innovative. I also hope you’ll join us. Let’s work together to be good neighbors — and good stewards of our environment.

Patrick R. Donahoe Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer

Postmaster General

Postmaster General

Sustainability at the Postal Service begins with a workforce committed to doing what’s right for the environment — and for our business. During this period of fiscal challenges, these efforts are more important than ever.

We foster sustainable practices through employee-led “Lean Green” teams that help us save money by promoting recycling and smart energy use. Our employees share a commitment to making our operations more efficient through better resource management.

In 2012, postal Lean Green teams throughout the nation helped us become more efficient and save money by reducing facility energy use, improving water efficiency, buying fewer supplies and reducing solid waste. To guide our recycling efforts locally, we established recycling coordinators in each of our districts.

Our total greenhouse gas emissions are lower and we completed our first climate change adaptation plan. USPS facility energy use continues its downward trend. Vehicle petroleum fuel use is down from 2011, but overall progress toward achieving our 20 percent fuel reduction by 2015 remains elusive due to an aging fleet and annual growth in the number of delivery points we serve.

To complement our annual Postmaster General Sustainability Award, we started a new employee award program, the GLOBE Award, to recognize employees who are doing great things for the environment every day to keep us on the path to a sustainable future.

As a self-funded federal agency, we continue to voluntarily align many of our sustainability stewardship practices to federal executive orders, because they make business sense and are the right thing to do. We also continue our commitment to comply with federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations. And we have initiated a new management system to proactively address existing and emerging environmental compliance issues.

We continue to remind Americans about how our actions — by postal employees and customers alike — affect the environment. These reminders come through our stamps as well. Last year we presented our Go Green stamps to highlight the small steps each of us can take to impact the world around us. This year we proudly present our Earthscapes Forever stamps, which feature amazing aerial and satellite photographs of natural, agricultural and urban landscapes. They are a reminder that the environment we all share is worth protecting and that there’s more that the Postal Service can, and will, do to help.

Thomas G. Day, Chief Sustainability Officer

Chief Sustainability Officer

Chief Sustainability Officer

postal facts

postal facts

From the FY2012 Annual Report to Congress

Fundamental Universal Service

Connecting businesses and households everywhere

Core of an $800 billion dollar industry with eight million employees

Virtually all revenue now comes from customers who have alternatives

Manages an adaptable infrastructure of high-speed mail sorting equipment, logistics networks and delivery routes, linked by sophisticated information technology

One of the most respected organizations for privacy and security (Ponemon Institute)

Record performance across most service categories

“Most improved” for customer satisfaction (American Customer Satisfaction Index)

One of the lowest rates for postage in the developed world

The world’s most productive postal service — reduced costs by $1.1 billion in FY 2012

New technologies connect mail and the Internet and let people send mail from mobile devices

Successfully changing to meet the needs of the country for 237 years

Critical for the Economy

Adaptable A Competitive Business

Secure and Trusted

Reliable

Efficient

Technologically Sophisticated

ConvenientMore retail locations than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined.

SustainableWorking with colleagues in the postal industry and federal sector to deliver mail at the lowest cost with minimal impact to the environmentA Bargain Customer-

FocusedRelevant

EffectiveBuilds relationships, helps customers do jobs important to them, and supplements other channels

about this report

This report reviews our sustainability efforts and performance over the past year. The performance snapshot on the inside front cover summarizes key indicators and progress toward our targets. The statements from the Postmaster General and Chief Sustainability Officer provide our leadership’s perspective.

Our Corporate Highlights section reviews key programs, initiative recognition awards and sustainability-focused events during 2012. For a more in-depth review of our corporate sustainability performance targets and practices, please take a look at our Environmental Stewardship, Services and Products and Sustainable Acquisition and Purchasing sections. Finally, our People and Community section spotlights some of our employees, our community engagement activities and our corporate social responsibility efforts.

Our 2012 sustainability report can be reviewed online at usps.com/green. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Our website provides additional content and features to explore. To learn more about our business plans for 2012 and our financial performance, we encourage you to a look at our Annual Report to Congress and Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations at http://about.usps.com.

We continue to improve the quality and transparency of our performance tracking. For this reason, reviewing our data is a year-round process. The Postal Service calculates performance indicators using information reported through internal databases or by estimation protocols. Data restatements or clarifications are footnoted on the inside front cover.

In 2012, we restated our transportation fuel, solid waste and recycling and facility energy performance indicators to reflect an improved understanding of our data and standardized estimation methodologies between reporting years.

We also adjusted our alternative fuel use target to align with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines. The restatements did not significantly alter previously reported data or affect their overall performance trend.

For this report we elected to temporarily defer including some of our environmentally preferable product (EPP) purchasing data while some enhancements to our tracking capabilities are completed. Read more in our Sustainable Acquisition and Purchasing section.

Global Reporting Initiative

The Global Reporting Initiative is a leading international reporting protocol. Our report follows the GRI protocol to offer consistency and transparency with the most widely recognized reporting standard for public sustainability performance disclosure. As the world’s largest post, we have a unique responsibility to participate. USPS is the only federal agency to consistently report within the GRI framework annually. Our 2012 GRI content index is provided on our website at http://usps.com/green. We follow version 3.0 of the GRI sustainability guidelines. Learn more about GRI reporting at https://www.globalreporting.org.

about this report

contents

contents

Corporate highlights

Environmental stewardship

Carbon footprint — GHG emissions

Energy conservation and management

Fleet and transportation management

Waste reduction and recycling

Water conservation and management

Environmental management and regulatory compliance

Services and products

Sustainable acquisition and purchasing

People and community

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8

8

12

14

19

21

22

24

28

30

On the cover: Inland marsh stamp: A shallow creek winds through Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Rich tidal marsh makes up much of the refuge’s more than 25,000 acres, forming a haven for fox squirrels and bald eagles and a stopping-off point for ducks and geese migrating along the Atlantic Flyway. The photograph was taken by Cameron Davidson.

corporate highlights

Earthscapes Forever stamps

Earthscapes Forever stamps continue the Postal Service tradition of portraying our nation’s environment on stamps. These stamps communicate America’s diverse landscapes in a whole new way.

Spectacular photography from several hundred feet to hundreds of miles above the Earth depict three categories of Earthscape environments: natural, agricultural and urban settings.

The shots from extremely high altitudes were taken from NASA’s fleet of satellites used to study the earth, to better understand our changing climate, its interaction with life, and how human activities affect the environment.

The stamps provide a window into our world from a viewpoint most of us never see. Natural features illustrate America’s wilderness, from Washington’s Mount St. Helens volcano, Utah’s Monument Valley, an Alaskan glacier, Yellowstone’s geothermal spring, to Maryland’s tidal marsh.

Abstract agricultural images capture products being gathered, grown, or harvested, such as salt in California, a timber raft in Idaho, Kansas cropland patterns, a Michigan cherry orchard and a Massachusetts cranberry bog.

Urban life takes center stage with Miami’s intricate highway crossroads, Nevada’s Clark County subdivisions, Manhattan cityscapes and Pennsylvania’s Steamtown national historic site.

“Once you’ve seen the world from above, you never look at it quite the same way again,” said U.S. Postal Service Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett at the stamps’ dedication at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “These Earthscapes stamps invite us to take a bird’s eye view of the land we all share.”

2 corporate highlights

Please turn to page 36 to see a large image of the entire Earthscape stamp collection.

January 2012 OMB scorecard in sustainability/energy

In 2012 Federal agencies were issued sustainability scorecards by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Postal Service scorecard 2011 results are shown below.

Key: Green=success, red=unsatisfactory.

January 2012 OMB Scorecard on Sustainability/Energy

Scope 1&2 GHG Emission Reduction Target

For Scope 1&2 GHG Reduction Target of 20% by 2020:11.1% reduction in 2011 and on track

Scope 3 GHG Emission Reduction Target

For Scope 3 GHG Reduction Target of 20% by 2020:5% reduction in 2011 and on track

Reduction in Energy Intensity

Reduction in energy intensity in goal-subject facilities compared with 2003:22.4% and on track for 30% by 2015

Reduction in Potable Water Intensity

Reduction in potable water intensity compared with 2007:18.5% and on track for 26% in 2020

Reduction in Fleet Petroleum Use

6.4% increase and not on track

Score: GREEN

Score: GREEN

Score: GREEN

Score: GREEN

Score: RED

corporate highlightsCranberry harvest — A Massachusetts cranberry bog holds a bounty of ripe red fruit. During the fall harvest, growers flood bogs, then mechanically churn the water to dislodge cranberries from their low-lying vines. They round up the floating fruit with booms, and convey it to receiving stations for cleaning. Photo by Steve Dunwell.


USPS releases federal sustainability and energy performance scorecard

The Postal Service released its Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sustainability and energy scorecard in 2012. The OMB scorecard is a reporting system required by Federal Executive Order 13514 for federal agencies to publicly report their progress toward established federal sustainability goals.

As a self-funded federal agency the Postal Service continues to voluntarily align many specific objectives to follow the federal goals including the OMB Scorecard.

The Postal Service is committed to being a sustainability leader and our scorecard results demonstrate progress toward our sustainability goals.

USPS BlueEarth™ Product Carbon Accounting Service launched

Our USPS BlueEarth Product Carbon Accounting Service was made available during 2012 for business customers to measure and manage carbon impacts across their supply chains. This proprietary innovation follows the most widely accepted GHG accounting methods to calculate a shipping or mailing item’s GHG emissions based on its characteristics, such as product type, size, weight, processing, distribution and transportation. This “no fee” service provides our business customers with monthly, quarterly and annual reports.

Carbonfund.org Foundation has reviewed the methodology used for the USPS BlueEarth Carbon Accounting Statement and determined it is consistent with the carbon neutrality criteria for eligibility in the Carbonfund.org Carbonfree® Shipping program. USPS business customers interested in offsetting emissions created by mailing or shipping can purchase carbon credits using official calculation results from the USPS BlueEarth Carbon Accounting Statement.

Carbonfund.org is the country’s leading carbon reduction and offset organization. Carbonfund. org educates the public about climate change and makes it easy and affordable for individuals, businesses and organizations to reduce their climate impact. Learn more at http://carbonfund.org.

Volcanic crater — Mount St. Helens and its surrounding area continue to recover from the explosive eruption of May 1980. Shades of white and gray indicate still-bare slopes; dark “rivers” are deep channels cut by fast-moving flows of hot ash, rock, and gas. Green represents regrowth of vegetation. The image was captured by NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite.

corporate highlights 5

Blue and Brown make green — Postal Service and UPS team up

Our goal is to reduce the total GHG emissions of the Postal Service, which includes not only our vehicles, but the emissions of our contract partners, such as UPS. In a video address to a global audience, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe and UPS Chief Executive Officer Scott Davis announced a unique partnership designed to help both organizations run more efficiently and provide greater transparency and accuracy in GHG accounting. Through this partnership, both organizations share GHG data and help each other achieve operational and sustainability goals, reducing the costs and carbon footprint of both networks to provide better service to customers.

How does it work? The Postal Service delivers many UPS packages using our “last mile” network, and UPS carries many USPS letters and packages using their extensive air and ground transportation networks. This partnership started from financial considerations — but now we are observing how the partnership also can improve sustainability performance across each organization’s supply chain. Sharing data lets us provide more accurate accounting for our customers using the USPS BlueEarth Product Carbon Accounting Service.

“By working together, the Postal Service and UPS are able to reduce costs, serve our customers better and achieve sustainability goals, such as reducing our carbon footprints,” said Donahoe. “The world is changing dramatically as we become a more global economy and it takes big ideas and bold moves to keep up,” said Davis. “This collaboration to reduce the carbon footprint of our respective supply chains is the sustainability wave of the future.”

Donahoe and Davis note that while the Postal Service and UPS are keen competitors, they also are each other’s customers. “It’s a great template for how posts and private enterprises can work together to better serve customers, the planet and the bottom line,” said Donahoe.

“We hope our partnership can serve as a model for others to work together in new ways, whether they are competitors, collaborators, customers or all the above,” Donahoe added. (Learn more in our Carbon footprint — GHG emissions section.)

PMG Pat Donahoe and UPS CEO Scott Davis


Postal Service hosts green events nationwide during 2012

Post Office employees volunteer their time and lead the way across our nation. The Los Angeles, CA, Main Post Office hosted a document shredding and recycling event. The public brought their paper documents to the event for secure shredding and recycling. The effort provided a security service for those who didn’t have access to shredders and resulted in an entire truckload of shredded recyclable paper.

The Cambridge, MA, Post Office sponsored a document shredding event with the City of Cambridge that attracted coverage from the New York Times “The Post Office and the City of Cambridge have been holding ‘shred your document days’ twice a year. They have been very well received,” said Postmaster Kathy Lydon. Cambridge residents disposed of more than two tons of documents, which were securely shredded and recycled.

The Everett, WA, Post Office hosted a document shredding and electronics recycling event that allowed free recycling of computers, monitors, TVs and laptops. The event collected over four tons of documents and used electronics. The event was offered at no cost to the public using a certified “responsible recycler” for electronics take-back.

In Fall 2012, the Postal Service participated in a customer outreach activity at The Green Festival in Washington, DC. The event featured workshops, food tastings, speakers and products devoted to living a green lifestyle. Many attendees heard about the Postal Service’s long-time efforts to help the environment.

2012 GreenGov Presidential award given to postal employee

Dianne Shoaf of the USPS Office of Sustainability received the White House Council on Environmental Quality 2012 GreenGov Presidential Award for leading the Postal Service’s Lean Green team initiative.

The award honors federal agency teams and individuals who coordinate innovative approaches to curbing waste, reducing energy and water use and saving money in operations. Shoaf engaged postal employees in the practical implementation of low- and no-cost “Green Team” projects across the country, a key USPS strategy focus area.

EPA Wastewise recognition award given to USPS

In 2012, the USPS Western Area received its third consecutive “Wastewise” Federal Government Partner of the Year award from the Environmental Protection Agency at the Intermountain Sustainability Summit Luncheon in Ogden, UT.

In accepting the award, Environmental Compliance/Risk Mitigation Specialist Jerry Jensen described how the Postal Service is leaving a green footprint — citing our lobby mail recycling, mixed paper backhauling, cardboard and plastic recycling, and environmentally responsible packaging and energy reduction initiatives. “We’re working hard to reduce our impact on the environment,” said Jensen.

At the Everett, WA, Post Office, vendors arrive for document shredding and electronic waste collection event.

From left, USPS Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Day, USPS Sustainability Project Integration Specialist Dianne Shoaf, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley and Christopher Lu, Cabinet Secretary and co-chair of the Executive Office of the President.

corporate highlights 7

Federal Green Challenge — USPS sets the bar

The Postal Service is the first federal agency to sign up on a nationwide basis for the Federal Green Challenge, a new national initiative under EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management Program.

The Federal Green Challenge encourages federal agencies throughout the country to lead by example in reducing their environmental impact. Federal offices participate by focusing on two of these six areas: waste, electronics, purchasing, energy, water and transportation. Participating agencies commit to a 5 percent improvement in their areas of focus each year and to reporting on their progress annually. You can learn more about the Federal Green Challenge at http://www.epa.gov/fgc/.

GLOBE recognition award program established

In 2012, a new recognition offering, the GLOBE award, was established to complement our annual Postmaster General Sustainability Award. GLOBE award recipients are announced on a quarterly basis and are sponsored by the Office of Sustainability.

Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Day said the GLOBE award provides more frequent recognition to individuals and teams who have contributed to a more sustainable workplace.

“We have employees taking on our sustainability challenges every day, and it’s important that we recognize their efforts.”

To be eligible for the GLOBE award, nominees complete an activity in designated categories such as energy and water conservation, pollution prevention, recycling or green leadership.

Post Office Operations Manager Toni Fossett was one of our first GLOBE award recipients in 2012 for her work in establishing Green Teams. “The Postal Service can become a better organization by going green,” said Fossett. “Our employees have taken on the Green Team challenge. I am proud of how well they’re doing.”

Recycle small electronics through the mail — with new cash-back feature

USPS has an arrangement with MaxBack®, which offers cash back for small electronics, with free postage-paid return shipping. Cell phones, limited types of mp3 players and tablets are included in the mail-back program.

“Leveraging our network in new ways and providing more environmentally friendly products and services are a key focus area for our reverse logistics working group,” said Tim Gerling, acting USPS manager, New Business Opportunities. Learn more online at: https://www.usps.com/ship/recycle-through-usps.htm.

Post Office lobby displays provide information on a small electronics cash-back program—through the mail.

Post Office Operations Manager Toni Fossett, a GLOBE Award recipient.

Environmental stewardship means taking responsibility. USPS has committed to environmental stewardship and integrating sustainability practices over time. We have established corporate targets and reduction strategies for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy, transportation fuel use, waste reduction and water conservation.

We also have established environmental management and regulatory compliance practices to reduce risks to the environment and our business. Our Environmental stewardship section reviews progress and strategies toward achieving these targets. We continuously track and monitor progress and we are committed to evaluating new opportunities and initiatives.

National environmental assessment

The Postal Service has reviewed many options over the last several years to re-align our network due to our reduced mail volumes. These changes were evaluated under the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires all federal agencies to implement policy goals to protect, maintain and enhance the environment. Nearly 115 site-specific analyses were completed, including evaluations of approximately 230 different scenarios.

The findings showed “no significant national impacts” from our network re-alignment plans — in fact, the assessment found re-alignment would also reduce the carbon footprint of our operations.

Carbon footprint: GHG emissionsUSPS generates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from facility energy use, transportation fuel use, waste generation, employee commuting, contracted transportation services, and other sources. Our target is to reduce GHG emissions by 20 percent by FY 2020.

We track GHG Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions towards established performance targets. Scope 1 GHG emissions include postal-owned sources such as fossil fuels used in our facilities and vehicle fleet. Scope 2 GHG emissions include supplied electricity or steam produced outside of our organizational boundry. Scope 3 includes other indirect sources such as contracted transportation, leased facilities, employee commuting and business travel.

We maintain a GHG inventory, which enables us to make better decisions about energy use and other sustainability issues. Customers benefit as well, as our GHG data collection and inventory programs support our USPS BlueEarthTM Product Carbon Accounting Service.

We prepare an annual GHG emissions inventory in compliance with several protocols:

� Executive Order 13514 —Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, along with our federal peers.

� The International Postal Corporation (IPC) Environmental Measurement and Management System with our postal peers.

� The Climate Registry, a North American nonprofit that sets standards for GHG reporting in a single registry of private and public entities.

environmental stewardship

8 environmental stewardship

Salt evaporation ponds — Salt is harvested from seawater in evaporation ponds near San Francisco, California. As natural evaporation occurs, salinity levels increase and the concentrations of algae and other microorganisms in the water change, causing the ponds to take on vivid colors. Photo by Barrie Rokeach.

(baseline)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2020

TA

RG

ET

5.29

5.03

4.89

4.62

4.27

8.09

8.01

7.66

7.53

7.79

13.38

13.04

12.55

12.15

12.06

Total greenhouse gas emissions

Million metric tons of CO2 equivalents Scope 1 & 2 Scope 3

What are carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents?The CO2 equivalent is a metric used to report total GHG emissions in terms of CO2. Emissions from non-CO2 GHGs are compared to CO2 based on their global warming potential (GWP), with CO2 having a GWP of 1. Learn more about CO2 at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website: http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html.

FY 2012 total GHG emissions by major source category

Total GHG emissions from all sources totaled 12.06 million MTCO2e in FY 2012.

Other 4%

Contracted transportation 44%

Commuting 17%

Postal transportation

fuel 11%

Facility energy 24%

9.9% decrease — GHG emissions since 2008

Target: Reduce GHG emissions 20% by FY 2020 from FY 2008 baseline (Scope 1, 2 and 3).

Progress: Total GHG emissions decreased by 9.9% or by almost 1.3 million* metric tons from the FY 2008 baseline to FY 2012.

*Nearly equal to removing 270,000 passenger vehicles from the road for a year.

Why track greenhouse gases?

The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. These emissions come mainly from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), with other important contributions coming from clearing forests, agricultural practices, and other activities. (Executive Summary, second National Climate Assessment, www.globalchange.gov)

Fossil fuel use adds greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere. The earth’s carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has varied over time. Air bubbles in Antarctic ice core samples indicate that over the last 800,000 years, levels of carbon dioxide have ranged between 170 to 300 parts per million (ppm). With industrialization in the last century, carbon dioxide levels have rapidly increased from 280 ppm to 394 ppm, as recorded at the Mauna Loa station in Hawaii. This rapid rise in carbon dioxide, primarily due to human activity, amplifies the natural greenhouse effect impacting climate change.

Many organizations measure their contribution of carbon dioxide and other GHGs and look for ways to reduce or offset them.

Graphic adapted from the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Global Change Impacts in the United States (2009) report, and excludes emission scenario projections and represents the 2012 atmospheric concentration from the Mauna Loa station, http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/. See the original graphic at: http://nca2009.globalchange.gov/global-climate-change.


environmental stewardship 11

Climate change mitigation and adaptation

Understanding and reducing our carbon footprint is part of climate change mitigation, but we are learning to adapt as well. In FY 2012, we completed our first climate change adaptation plan. This plan will help us identify where USPS is vulnerable to climate change — and how we can avoid and minimize disruptions in mail service.

For the Postal Service, climate change adaptation planning is a form of risk management. The impacts of climate change could burden or disrupt our ability to provide mail service due to factors including an increase in frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events, increased flooding driven by storms and rising sea levels, changes in temperature, precipitation and drought patterns, and stress on the Nation’s transportation infrastructure.

In the years ahead, USPS will be shaped by transformative forces, including economic, environmental, societal and technological shifts. We deliver to every community in America, touching the lives of millions of citizens. Therefore, planning and preparing for potential disruptions to mail service is part our mission. You can read our plan at: http://origin-about.usps.com/what-we-are-doing/green/climatechange.htm.

Annual employee commuter survey — GHG emission inventory

Understanding how employees get to work is part of determining our carbon footprint. Each year the Postal Service conducts a survey to gather data on our employees’ modes of transportation and distances traveled to work. The choices include walking, bicycling, carpooling, driving solo, public transportation, even riding a ferry boat. Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Day noted, “This survey gives employees a unique opportunity to contribute to the Postal Service’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We can’t reduce what we can’t measure.” The commuter survey is also used to compare USPS commuting patterns with other federal agencies.

A solitary mailbox is next to an outside stairway separated from a residence after Hurricane Sandy. Disasters like Hurricane Sandy show us the potential damage from extreme weather driven by climate change.

Residential subdivision — Suburbia in Clark County, NV — the state’s most populous county — provides a maze of pavement, sidewalks, and single-family homes. In this desert development, swimming pools and clumps of trees provide some relief from the heat of summer.


Energy conservation and managementWith more than 32,000 buildings nationwide, our vast facility network requires a lot of energy to support mail processing equipment, vehicle maintenance, information technology, appliances, and heating and cooling for employees and customers.

In 2012, we continued making new energy improvement investments while maintaining gains achieved in prior years. Our actions and results demonstrate our continued commitment toward energy reduction.

We consumed 22 trillion BTU in FY 2012 — about the same amount of energy used by 215,000 U.S. households in a year. Using trillions of BTU means large energy costs — $523 million in FY 2012. So energy has a significant impact on our finances and is a potential savings opportunity for us.

We have two energy targets: reduce total facility energy use and energy intensity (use per square foot) by 30 percent. As a self-funded federal agency, we must watch the bottom line, just as any other business does. Our investments in energy efficiency projects and data collection tools have saved money and reduced our environmental footprint.

In 2012, our total facility energy use decreased 34 percent, and our energy intensity decreased 32 percent compared to 2003.

National energy management plan

In 2012, we launched an initiative to update our national energy management strategy to match the evolving financial and strategic direction of the Postal Service.

Our approach is to evaluate new technology, incorporate energy efficiency into new equipment assessments and investigate equipment-specific energy use.

By integrating key technologies into facility energy opportunities, along with promoting employee energy awareness, we will continue to drive a conservation culture throughout the organization.

(baseline)

0 10 20 30 40

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2015

TA

RG

ET

33.7

37.3

30.7

25.7

24.2

34.6

36.4

30.1

25.3

22.3

Total facility energy use

Trillion BTUs

What is a BTU?A BTU or British Thermal Unit is a standardized measure of energy based on the heating properties of the fuel. This includes heating fuels and electricity.

34% decrease — facility energy use since 2003

Targets: Reduce total facility energy consumption (BTU) and energy-use intensity (BTU/sf) 30% by FY 2015 from FY 2003 baseline.

Progress: Total facility energy consumption (BTU) decreased 34% or more than 11 trillion BTU from FY 2003 baseline to FY 2012.

Facility energy use intensity (BTU/SF) decreased by 32% since FY 2003.

This is nearly equal to reducing the amount of energy consumed by 100,000 U.S. households.


Measurement and reporting

In FY 2012, USPS worked to improve and expand our energy data collection and measurement tools, helping us reduce our energy use to meet our goals and comply with the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.

Our Utility Management System (UMS) consists of more than 5,600 facilities. UMS collects energy information directly from participating utilities and provides accurate energy cost and consumption information on demand. It also feeds into our Enterprise Energy Management System (EEMS).

For EEMS, 2012 was a year of significant progress. The Postal Service uses this application to measure and verify energy performance, monitor and report savings and identify opportunities for improvement. USPS now has detailed historical cost and consumption data for approximately 10,000 facilities. Real-time monitoring data are available for several pilot sites.

Improving transparency in our data collection systems allows us to better understand energy consumption trends.

In the past year, we identified energy consumption estimation procedures that were inconsistent over time. We streamlined and standardized energy calculation methodologies and restated FY 2010 and FY 2011 energy performance data. The result is a more accurate representation of our performance.

Utility rebates

Many utilities offer energy efficiency rebates because lower demands for energy help them avoid costly infrastructure expansions. In 2012, the Postal Service received $1.9 million in utility rebates for energy improvement efforts. These incentives benefit the utility, the environment and the Postal Service — resulting in reduced costs and improved buildings.

Taking action on energy

USPS hosts Energy Action Month every October to provide information to employees on how they can reduce energy use. For 2012, Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman and Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Day appeared in a video on energy savings. The video was distributed through the Postal Service’s television network. For the first time in the history of Energy Action Month, USPS issued a postage cancellation to encourage Americans to save energy in the month of October.

Denver Network Distribution Center (NDC) — energy audit

The power of an energy audit is in the savings that result. A facility energy audit identified potential annual savings of up to 26 billion BTU and utility savings of more than $292,000 at the 450,000 square-foot Denver NDC.

The project included installation of energy efficient lighting, thermostat resets, HVAC control system upgrades and removal of old automation equipment.

The results were better than predicted. The Denver NDC was able to reduce energy costs $425,000 and save 33 billion BTU. These savings are equivalent to the annual energy use of over 300 households!

Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman


Fleet and transportation management Our mission is to provide delivery service that connects the nation. When choosing modes of transportation, we give the highest consideration to prompt and economical service. To meet this commitment, USPS operates one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the country. We move mail by foot, bicycle, car, truck, train, airplane, ship, and, for the Grand Canyon, by mule.

The Postal Service does not pass on fuel surcharges to customers, which means volatile fuel prices are a large, unpredictable cost that can affect affordable mail service. That’s why we track fuel use closely and always look to find greater efficiencies with our fleet.

Total use of petroleum fuel increased over the last five years, mainly due to continued growth in new city and rural delivery points. We have established fuel-use targets for postal-owned vehicles and contract transportation fleet partners, and track their use. The challenge in reducing fuel use is that even as mail piece volumes continue to decline, the total number of delivery points (locations where mail must be delivered) is increasing.

To service our delivery points, the Postal Service has a defined nationwide delivery route system. In FY 2012, we added 690,000 new city and rural delivery points, while reducing total delivery routes by 1,161. How does the Postal Service increase service, while at the same time decrease the number of delivery routes? By making our delivery network more efficient and using tools such as carrier optimal routing (COR).

This software tool helps the Postal Service eliminate redundant vehicle travel paths, unnecessary stops and starts, and encourages right-hand turns. COR uses a set of algorithmic formulas based on local delivery route inspections. These efficiencies are essential to lowering fuel consumption and improving our fiscal outlook now and into the future.

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008 581.4

573.2

568.8

556.7

574.9 151.1

154.7

147.8

147.4

148.3

726.0

711.4

716.5

720.5

729.7

Total vehicle fuel use

Million gasoline gallon equivalent (GGEs) Contract & GSA leased transport Postal-owned

4.6% increase — postal vehicle fleet fuel use since 2005

Target: Reduce postal vehicle petroleum use 20 percent by FY 2015 from FY 2005 baseline.

Progress: Postal-owned vehicle total petroleum use increased 4.6 percent from FY 2005 baseline to FY 2012 and decreased slightly from FY 2011 to FY 2012.

In FY 2012, nearly 690,000 city and rural delivery points were added to our network.

0.9% decrease — contract transportation fuel use since 2008

Target: Reduce contract transportation petroleum fuel use 20% by FY 2020 from FY 2008 baseline.

Progress: Contract transportation petroleum use decreased 0.9 percent from the FY 2008 baseline to FY 2012 and increased from FY 2011 to FY 2012.

Our contract air transportation mail-carrying service was a major contributor to the increase in contract transportation in the last year.


In 2012, USPS developed and distributed fuel conservation kits to field offices. The kits contained a fuel conservation video, poster and memo from Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman.

The Atlanta District established a team to evaluate delivery routes for more than 40 offices with impressive results. Since 2011, the district has reduced vehicle mileage by 850 miles a day, saving 17,000 gallons of fuel a year and $50,000 in fuel costs. “By eliminating vacant routes and optimizing lines of travel, we were able to reduce our daily miles traveled,” said Rural Route Reduction Project Lead Timothy Benton.


Postal-owned vehicle fleet and contract transportation service

The postal-owned fleet of 212,530 vehicles decreased by 1,351 vehicles in 2012. Letter carriers and truck drivers logged almost 1.3 billion total miles.

The long-life vehicle (LLV) continues to be the workhorse of our fleet. While most LLVs are between 18 and 25 years old — and the expected service life of an LLV is 24 years — we’ve extended their life cycle through a robust preventative maintenance and repair program.

Contract transportation provides regional network service — and often travel longer distances than postal-owned vehicles. Also included are our rural routes, for which USPS reimburses employees who use their own vehicles. Contract transportation services move mail by truck, airplane, ship and rail — and were responsible for 80 percent of our total petroleum fuel consumption in 2012.

Alternative fuel vehicles

USPS has a long-established alternative fuel vehicle program, with the goal of using increasingly more alternative fuels. We are on track to increase alternative fuel use 10 percent annually (for an end target of 159 percent from FY 2005). In FY 2012, the Postal Service used 2.3 million GGEs of alternative fuel.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires USPS to report its efforts to utilize alternative fuels to the Department of Energy annually.

The Postal Service continues to take proactive steps to increase the use of alternative fuel. Most of our fuel comes from commercially available sources.

In many cases, obtaining alternative fuel requires USPS to travel further from our routes. Providing affordable delivery service requires our use of alternate fuels that are conveniently available and competitively priced.

What is a GGE? Gasoline gallon equivalent (or GGE) is defined as the energy content of any motor fuel, including alternative fuels, to that of a gallon of gasoline. This allows us to compare different fuels, such as ethanol use, to gasoline. Learn more about fuel reduction and GGE from the U.S. Department of Energy: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc.

*USPS updated its mileage reporting system in FY 2012, which led to some data anomalies. This 2012 value is the extrapolated estimate from average monthly mileage.

Postal-owned fleet by the numbers

Year Vehicle fleet sizeTotal miles traveled (billions)

Total petroleum consumption (in GGE)

Total rural and city delivery points (millions)

2008 221,047 1.27 146.9 126.38

2009 218,687 1.25 145.5 127.38

2010 215,625 1.26 145.6 128.08

2011 213,881 1.29 152.6 128.82

2012 212,530 1.28* 148.8 129.51


Million Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGEs)

(baseline)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

200520

15 T

AR

GE

T0.9

0.7

0.8

1.5

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.3

Alternative fuel use

Our alternate fuel fleet provides a diversified vehicle mix, with ethanol flex fuel (E85) vehicles being the largest component of our fleet. Other alternative fuel vehicles in our fleet consist of compressed natural gas (CNG), electric hybrids and propane. We continue to test many others.

2012 alternative fuel-capable vehicle fleet snapshot

Ethanol (E85)/gasoline 40,733

Compressed natural gas (CNG) 497

Electric 43

Propane 31

Conventional hybrid 914

Total AFV 2012 42,218

Texas Post Offices expand CNG vehicles

Texas leads the way in our compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle deployment. Locations in Corpus Christie and Austin are using CNG. North East Station in Austin has had 30 CNG vehicles operating for over a year. The Corpus Christi Post Office has almost doubled the number of CNG-powered vehicles to 80 over the past two years. Conversion to CNG has reduced monthly fuel costs by almost 80 percent, with the added benefit of convenient on-site CNG hookups that save fueling time.

Corpus Christi Postmaster Cathy Polderman, Vehicle Manager Raymond McCloskey, letter carriers, and city officials all worked to increase the number of CNG-powered vehicles in the community. City of Corpus Christi Gas Operations Director Debra Marroquin said, “The Postal Service’s use of CNG is setting an example for other local businesses to follow.”

New technology is transforming U.S. domestic natural gas markets. More investments in natural gas-powered vehicles may be a wave of the future.

Letter Carrier Arnold Reyna fills up with CNG at the Corpus Christie Post Office.

141% increase — postal-owned alternative fuel use since FY 2005

Target: Increase total alternative fuel use 159 percent from an FY 2005 baseline (10 percent annually) by FY 2015.

Progress: Total alternative fuel use increased 141 percent from an FY 2005 baseline to FY 2012.

Alternative fuel use has more than doubled since 2005. We’ve adjusted our alternative fuel consumption target to align with OMB’s target criteria — from 100% to 159%.


Vehicle testing — technology rundown

The Postal Service has been a pioneer in adapting to new transportation technologies. This long history continues. We know investments in vehicle technology must continue even during difficult times because our business depends on it. Here are highlights of some recent vehicle tests.

Fuel-cell vehicle. A partnership between U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Postal Service began in January 2012 to test GM Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in Kailua, HI, near Honolulu. The vehicle has been delivering mail since February 2012. The converted Chevy Equinox hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle travels up to 200 miles on a single charge and can refuel in five minutes. This collaborative research project may help determine the long-term viability of fuel cell technology.

Hydrogen fuel cell test vehicle

Electric two-ton vehicles. We continue to test our 10 Navistar eStar two-ton electric step vans that deployed last year. Rated for up to 100 miles on a charge, the vehicle can be fully recharged in 6 to 8 hours. Field tests continue in Los Angeles, CA; Manhattan, NY; and Fairfax, VA.

Repowering LLVs. Last year the Postal Service awarded contracts to repower LLV drive trains to both suppliers of gasoline and diesel repowered drive-train technology. The more fuel efficient gasoline repowered LLV was deployed in May of 2012 and the diesel repowered LLV was deployed in December 2012. Both vehicles are operating on mail delivery routes in Northern Virginia.

Electric LLVs. Field testing was initiated last year after extensive testing with the Department of Energy. The project consisted of retrofitting five gasoline-powered LLVs with electric drive trains. Each vehicle was converted with distinct technology by five separate electric vehicle suppliers to test performance. All five electric vehicles are being evaluated on mail delivery routes in Washington, DC.


Waste reduction and recycling Our waste reduction and recycling efforts continue to be an important part of our sustainability practices. Recycling reduces energy and water consumption, decreases emission and carbon pollution and helps conserve natural resources. In FY 2012, we recycled more than 253,000 tons of material — compared to 215,000 tons in FY 2011 — and diverted about 48 percent of our solid waste. Our target is to divert 50 percent of our solid waste from landfill to recycling by FY 2015. We are currently on track with our target. We have a business case for implementing waste reduction and recycling practices and are committed to continue building on these efforts.

Culture change — current national trends in mail recycling

Campaigns to encourage mail recycling have been met with growing success. With almost 90 percent of communities in the U.S. providing some type of recycling, Americans are recycling more mail.

According to the EPA, the recycling recovery rate for standard mail (advertising or direct mail) from 1990 through 2008 increased from 5.2 percent to 40.7 percent. By 2009, the latest year for EPA data, the recovery rate had jumped to 63.4 percent, reflecting a nationwide awareness of the recyclability of mail. More needs to be done, but attitudes are changing.

Americans are increasingly aware of their responsibility to reuse and recycle their waste paper, including mail.

Waste reduction — minimizing undeliverable-as-addressed mail in our network

Reducing the amount of undeliverable mail that enters the mail stream avoids waste and resources. The Postal Service established the “Move Update” standard in 2008, requiring mailers to update their mailing lists more frequently to minimize undeliverable mail.

Since the standard was enacted, we have developed better tracking mechanisms to measure undeliverable mail, which allows us to better analyze compliance with Move Update. This information also helps us understand root causes and enables development of new strategies to reduce undeliverable pieces from entering our network.

Recycling — solid waste diversion

Recycling undeliverable mail, and cardboard and plastics reduces waste disposal costs and our carbon footprint. We leverage our transportation network by using return trips from Post Office mail runs to deliver materials to hub processing centers, where we sell them to recyclers and avoid landfill disposal costs.

In FY 2012, we recycled 186,000 tons of mixed paper, 35,000 tons of cardboard, 6,000 tons of plastic, 4,000 tons of scrap metal and 19,000 tons of other commodities, resulting in $23.8 million in recycling revenue. The landfill disposal cost avoidance is estimated at $25.7 million. We also encouraged customers to recycle through our “read, respond and recycle” mail lobby campaign, by asking them to discard unwanted mail in Post Office lobby recycling bins, instead of our trash cans.

On Nov. 15, 2012, America Recycles Day, USPS distributed a national bulletin to employees about how to start and increase recycling efforts in their facilities (Learn more about America Recycles Day at http://americarecyclesday.org.) We included an online pledge form for employees to commit to recycling goals. We also used our agency-wide commitment to the Federal Green Challenge to promote waste reduction and recycling at our Post Offices.

48% diverted — solid waste diversion rate — recycling in 2012

Target: Divert solid waste sent to landfill 50 percent by FY 2015 from FY 2008 baseline.

Progress: Recycling diversion rate was 48 percent in FY 2012, up from 46% in FY 2011.

$23.8 million in recycling revenue earned in FY 2012.


Electronic waste (e-waste) stewardship

With more electronic devices available than ever before, there are growing concerns about their improper disposal. Electronic waste, or e-waste, may contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium and mercury that are harmful to human health and the environment.

USPS continues to collect e-waste for recycling, including when we close facilities due to network consolidation. Using our three e-waste principles — secure data destruction, recycle and reuse, and landfill avoidance — we centralize e-waste collection using an approved contractor, who is “ISO 14001” and “R2” (responsible recycling) third-party certified. Third-party certification standards offer a way to assess the environmental, worker health and security practices of companies managing used electronics. In 2012, this partnership resulted in recycling more than 1,260 tons of e-waste and related recyclable material, with $740,000 in shared revenue.

USPS Northern New England District honored on America Recycles Day

USPS Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Day visited the Northern New England District to praise employee efforts. After meeting with Portland, ME, letter carriers, Day made a presentation on behalf of the Postmaster General in the Southern Maine facility’s recycling room honoring employees for the district’s no. 1 ranking in recycling performance nationwide.

Accompanied by Northeast Area VP Rick Uluski and District Manager Deborah Essler, Day commended employees for their unprecedented success.

He presented awards to the district’s green team members for initiating and coordinating our most ambitious recycling program. Recycling revenue per delivery point is three times higher than the national average. “Northern New England employees have led the way and have established a sustainability path for our postal districts nationwide to follow,” Day said.

Portland, ME. Southern Maine Processing & Distribution Center custodian Ron Sirois and Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Day at the recycling event held at the facility.

Highway interchange — In Miami, Interstate Highways 95 and 395 converge in a carefully engineered, multi-level interchange. Off-and-on-ramps convey traffic from one level to another and from one interstate to another at this intricate urban “crossroads.”


Water conservation and managementWe are looking at both our water footprint and ways in which we impact water quality. Our facilities are mostly supplied from potable water sources used for our employees, building systems and landscaping. A better understanding of our consumption patterns helps improve strategies to reduce our water footprint. Over the last several years we incorporated water-use tracking into our national utility management system and currently track water use at more than 4,700 facilities. We added thousands of water records in 2012, which makes our water use estimates more accurate.

Facility water conservation in action

The Honolulu Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) recently began replacing restroom fixtures with EPA WaterSense products. WaterSense, an EPA partnership program, ensures consumer confidence in buying water-efficient products backed by third-party, independent testing and certification. Learn more at http://www.epa.gov/watersense/. Field Maintenance Operations Manager Roslyn Hanchett said, “We researched available WaterSense products online and then located them at a local hardware store. They were very easy to install and we plan on using more of them in upcoming replacements.”

The Houston plant went further by installing waterless restroom fixtures. Maintenance Manager Mike Keppler said, “We replaced more than 40 fixtures. Less water meant reduced maintenance. The new fixtures have been working very well, and the cartridges and inserts are recyclable.”

Stormwater management

According to the EPA, stormwater runoff is one of the leading sources of water pollution in the U.S. Federal and state regulations require many businesses, including USPS, to get stormwater runoff permits and prepare written pollution prevention plans. The Postal Service has more than 150 of these permitted facilities across the country. These plans identify procedures for minimizing the potential for pollutants to be carried away in stormwater discharges.

For example, some postal facilities in California are required to perform stormwater runoff sampling to ensure pollutants are not being discharged. A sampler is placed in site drainage areas to capture stormwater discharge for analysis and subsequent reporting to state regulators.

Sampler placed in stormwater discharge at Oakland vehicle maintenance facility.

38% decrease — water use since 2007

Target: Reduce water use 10 percent by FY 2020 from FY 2007 baseline.

Progress: Water use decreased 38 percent from the FY 2007 baseline to FY 2012 or 2 billion gallons.

USPS spent $23 million on water services in 2012.


Syracuse, NY, Colvin-Elmwood Post Office green roof under way

USPS participated with Syracuse officials in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to announce a green roof atop the Colvin-Elmwood Post Office. The 11,300 square-foot roof is being built through an innovative sustainability partnership with Onondaga County. The roof will reduce the amount of stormwater runoff flowing into the municipal water system. Construction began in 2012 and the roof planting is scheduled to begin in spring 2013.

Working with the county’s Save the Rain initiative, USPS found the roof to be structurally sound enough to handle the additional weight of soil, vegetation and other green roof requirements. The roof will include a new membrane, drainage sheet layers, indigenous vegetation and a wind blanket.

The project fits into the Postal Service’s commitment to create sustainable spaces and facilities. The expected lifespan is up to 50 years, twice as long as the current roof.

Environmental management and regulatory complianceThe Postal Service uses a management systems approach to identify and address existing and emerging environmental compliance issues and associated impacts. This approach is based on continuous improvement.

Corporate level risk planning. We are subject to numerous federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations. In 2012, the Postal Service improved its corporate-level facility risk criteria to better manage risk mitigation resource planning. As part of our continuous improvement process, the Postal Service periodically reviews facility risk assessment criteria to address business, regulatory and environmental aspects and impacts.

Risk assessments based on significant aspects. Our environmental management system is a facility-based environmental risk assessment effort. These assessments identify current compliance issues as well as non-regulatory deficiencies that could, if not addressed, lead to non-compliance with local, state, or federal environmental regulations. This benefits the Postal Service by minimizing potential fines and penalties and enhances our environmental stewardship by identifying and correcting compliance issues and instilling best practices. In 2012, the Postal Service completed over 280 environmental risk assessments.

Mitigate and manage risk. Addressing root causes is part of managing and reducing overall environmental risks to our organization. We track corrective and preventive actions using compliance monitoring, and have developed several corporate-level systems to assist in managing our environmental efforts:

� Compliance assistance tools — robust website to provide facility environmental compliance support.

� Data management — information system to track facility environmental data.

� Records management — system to retain, manage, store and archive environmental records.

� Training — environmental compliance training courses.

Underground storage tank training

In 2012, USPS focused on providing newly developed underground storage tank operator training, as required under the Energy Policy Act. Our transportation network has facilities in 37 states and territories that required the training. More than 800 employees received the training from our learning management system and external state-approved vendors. Operating these storage tanks in an environmentally sound manner reduces risk and potential releases into the environment.

Green roof construction begins.

Butte in early morning fog — Fog rolls in and around Stagecoach butte, one of the many red sandstone formations rising from the floor of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in southeastern Utah. Snow dusts the rugged crest of the butte. Photo by Jim Wark.

Center-pivot irrigation — Circular patterns on Kansas cropland show center-pivot sprinkler systems have been at work. Red circles indicate healthy, irrigated crops; lighter circles represent harvested crops. Corn, wheat, alfalfa, soybeans, and grain sorghum account for most of the irrigated acreage in Kansas. The stamp art is a detail of an image captured by NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite.

Railroad roundhouse — Early 20th-century steam locomotives undergo maintenance inside the restored railroad roundhouse and museum. A turntable turns locomotives around and provides access to the roundhouse service stalls. Photo by Jim Wark.


Cherry orchard — Spring is cherry blossom time, and at this cherry orchard in Door County, WI, every tree seems to be in bloom. Door County is known for its tart red cherries, usually harvested from about mid-July to mid-August. Photo by Richard Hamilton Smith.

Barge fleeting — A pair of towboats “wrangle” commercial barges in the Old River barge fleeting area near the Houston Ship Channel in Texas. The channel allows access from the Gulf of Mexico to the Port of Houston, a major industrial center. The photograph of the Apollo (top) and Taurus (bottom, formerly named Marie Cenac) was taken by Jim Wark.

USPS offers affordable, high-quality products and services that demonstrate greater environmental awareness. Our website, www.usps.com/green, provides green tips and other resources for customers and business mailers that help them save money. We are exploring more opportunities with vendors and other agencies to offer reverse logistics mail-back solutions. This includes our recently developed signature USPS BlueEarth Product Carbon Accounting Service, which helps businesses understand their own carbon footprint.

Green shipping products

As part of ongoing efforts to improve the environmental attributes of our products, the Postal Service has identified new contract procurement specifications for our expedited and Ready Post Mail packaging products.

The new requirements include minimum post-consumer recycled content and third-party eco-label certification — the Forest Stewardship Council (http://us.fsc.org/) or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (http://www.sfiprogram.org/).

Certification systems like FSC and SFI promote responsible forestry with chain of custody certifications to ensure products bearing their labels were produced using sustainable forest management practices, including recycled fiber content. As a further alternative, suppliers can achieve compliance with the Postal Service requirements through Cradle to Cradle CertificationTM.

products and services

24 products and services

Geothermal spring — At the center of Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, water temperatures reach nearly 190 degrees — too hot to support most life — but along the edges of the pool, bacteria and algae can thrive, as indicated by the colorful pigments and mats they produce. Photo by Jim Wark.

Cash-back opportunity — electronic device recycling through the mail

The Postal Service reintroduced its free postage-paid, mail-back program — with a new cash-back offer for used and unwanted small electronic devices. Since our mail-back program offering began in 2008, more than a million electronic devices and printer cartridges have been kept out of landfills. We are building on that success.

MaxBack offers cash in return for small electronics — with free postage-paid, return shipping through USPS. Since the program rolled out in September 2012, we have handled more than 3 tons of electronic devices in the mail.

Customers can go green as they trade in old electronic gadgets for cash. Devices covered by the program include cell phones, personal digital assistants, mp3 players, digital cameras, iPods and tablets.

By accessing www.usps.com/ship/recycle-through-usps.htm, customers can determine what electronics qualify and how much their cell phones or electronic devices are worth. An instant quote is provided and the device can be mailed back free via Priority Mail. Once received, MaxBack inspects the item and sends money based on the option chosen.

Gary Reblin, vice president of New Products and Innovation, said, “We’ve expanded this recycling program to offer more consumers the opportunity to protect the environment and put some money in their pocket. And shipping is free.”

MaxBack

MaxBack remarkets gently used cell phones and electronics safely and securely. Damaged or unusable electronics are remanufactured or recycled by MaxBack’s parent company Environmental Reclamation Services (ERS), a zero-landfill, ISO-14001 and R2-certified, reverse-logistics company. ERS, located in Erie, PA, has been in business for two decades and is the premier recycler of printer cartridges and small electronics from around the world.

26 products and services

Ink jet cartridge recycling offered at postal retail locations

Since the re-introduction of the program in September 2012, we have processed over 25,000 ink jet cartridge return envelopes through the mail. MaxBack inkjet recycling envelopes are provided at participating postal retail locations nationwide. Customers can place their empty ink cartridges in the free postage-paid envelope and send it off.

Medical waste and unused medication — return by mail

USPS is working to help prevent unused medications from entering the environment. We have developed specially designed envelopes to mail unused prescription and over-the-counter medications for proper disposal.

This gives the public access to an easy, affordable and environmentally responsible way to dispose of unused or expired medications. Nearly 172,000 pounds of unused pharmaceuticals (current regulations exclude controlled substances) have been collected in 2012 through the USPS mail-back initiative.

Consumers can purchase these kits from provider websites or select retail pharmacies. Learn more at http://www.sharpsinc.com/learning-center/unused-medication-disposal.

Earthscapes puzzle

During 2012, the Postal Service began offering customers a 500-piece puzzle that showcases the Earthscapes Forever stamps. The 18-by 24-inch Earthscapes puzzle features 15 spectacular images of America’s landscapes as seen from high above the planet’s surface. The puzzle is available at selected Post Offices or at usps.com/shop.

TakeawayTM mail-back envelope for unused medication with Intelligent Mail barcode.

Green-themed products

Our 16-panel Go Green stamp sheets, released in 2011, contain green themes and messages. They are available online at http://www.stampproducts.com/gogreen. In addition, an assortment of Go Green

products such as playing cards, tote bags, unique seed-embedded postcards that can be planted and grown, and a family activity kit with tips for making a greener world were made available for ordering online.

products and services 27

Sustainable acquisition can lead to improved product quality and reliability, lower risk and more efficient products that reduce costs. Recognizing that we can responsibly influence our suppliers’ social and environmental performance, we are developing collaborative relationships and applying sustainable acquisition stewardship practices into our business. Some highlights for 2012 include:

� Sustainability excellence supplier award program. Our annual supplier sustainability award recognizes suppliers with exemplary sustainability performance and attributes.

� Environmentally preferable product offerings. During 2012, we worked to have suppliers provide accurate product attributes and relevant eco-labels for use in our online supply catalog. This helps postal employees identify environmentally preferable products.

� Interagency collaboration. We participated in a General Services Administrative-sponsored Sustainable Procurement Fellows Partnership program and are working with them to evaluate ways to integrate sustainability considerations into national procurement requirements for environmentally preferable products, alternative fuels and alternative-fuel vehicle placement.

� Consumable supplies. Reducing spending on consumables has been another area of focus. Since 2008, spending on consumables has decreased 39 percent or by almost $200 million. This is largely the result of a purchasing program overhaul several years ago. Reductions in the use of office, custodial and maintenance supplies have reduced costs and avoided material use and waste.

The Postal Service has two categories of supplies, those that are purchased in our online supplies catalog and those purchased off-catalog.

Looking ahead, we will be updating our sustainability acquisition targets while continuing to work with suppliers on offering environmentally preferable products (EPP) into our on-line supplies catalog. Planned upgrades to our on-line supplies catalog will enhance our reporting and tracking capabilities including EPP over the next several years.

In 2014, we are planning to establish a new EPP baseline and commit to increasing our purchases of EPP in our catalog from 2015 to 2020. We have deferred from including previously reported performance data on increasing EPP products until this upgrade and new data tracking system is completed.

We will continue to work toward having our off-catalog suppliers with contract commitments of $500,000 or more provide sustainability data (i.e. EPP, energy & water efficiency, bio based & recycled content). Further, we plan to have sustainability clauses included within all new contract actions by FY 2015.

sustainable acquisition and purchasing

28 sustainable acquisition and purchasing

Encouraging a diverse supply chain

The Postal Service is committed to a strong supplier base that reflects the diversity of the American business community. Explore our supplier diversity corporate plan at http://about.usps.com/suppliers/diversity-program.htm.

In FY 2012, we continued to encourage supplier diversity by promoting contracting and business opportunities through proactive outreach efforts and events. This is the 12th consecutive year USPS was chosen as one of America’s top 10 government organizations for multicultural business opportunities by DiversityBusiness.com.

Environmentally preferable product purchasing

Our environmentally preferable products (EPP) purchasing program has been in place since FY 2007. As with all purchases, we incorporate cost, performance and environmental considerations into the program. We look for alternative products that are:

� bio-based.

� made of recycled content.

� free of targeted hazardous chemicals.

� energy and water efficient — including certifications from the Forest Stewardship Council or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

These products can lead to less waste, lower utility costs and reduced risks and impacts to the environment.

In FY 2012, we purchased $295 million in EPP — with $270 million spent on recycled content products. The top recycled content products included packaging and office supplies.

Products such as paper and cardboard made with recycled materials produce fewer GHG emissions during manufacture than non-recycled content material. By using recycled content envelopes, we avoided 77,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (MT CO2e) emissions. Mail transport equipment made of cardboard has avoided over 30,400 MT CO2e by reducing paper-production emissions. Metal products such as mailbox equipment and vehicle parts have avoided 20,500 MT CO2e.

Making the business case for retread tires

Retreading reconditions previously used tires and places them back in service.

Daily stop-and-start curbside delivery wears tires out quickly. We established a national contract service to retread our used tires, which have been cost effective and durable, dependable and safe.

A fleet of 212,530 vehicles uses a lot of tires — retreading saves a lot of green.

� Seven-ton vehicles 50 percent savings per retread tire.

� Two-ton vehicle 25 percent savings per retread tire.

� Long-life vehicle 10 percent savings per retread tire.

($) millions purchased

(baseline)

$200 $225 $250 $275 $300

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007 252.7

269.4

268.2

238.9

288.0

295.3

Total environmentally preferable products purchased ($million)

Skyscraper apartments — Endless rows of balconies and windows dot the Manhattan cityscape. In this detail of a photograph, the camera’s telephoto lens compresses the distance between the towers of a high-rise. Photo by Jim Wark.

Postal Service employees delivered excellent service in 2012 and play a vital role in America’s communities. Our 530,000 employees are part of America’s communities in ways that go far beyond delivering mail and packages. We get to know our customers and help communities connect. Working toward greater engagement with employees and the communities we serve makes for a more sustainable organization.

Our people are sustainability champions

We take pride in our large national programs, but local efforts also make a big difference. To help you understand the contributions of employees, we are profiling just a few of the many great performers within our organization.

Leo Brenot: “Never accept ‘can’t’ for an answer.”

Leo Brenot, a seven-year employee, transports mail at the Toledo plant as an motor vehicle service driver. In June 2012 he was appointed as the recycling coordinator, with spectacular results.

Brenot developed a recycling plan and shared it with all 196 postmasters, station and branch managers in the Toledo service area. With the support of local management and union representatives, Brenot leveraged the existing reverse logistic transportation network to consolidate mixed paper, cardboard, plastic and other recyclables into the Toledo facility.

They went from recycling 8 tons a month in June 2012 to more than 50 tons a month in October 2012 — a six fold increase — achieving “zero waste” status.

“We replaced over 100 trash containers in the plant with recycling containers and consolidated all the facility trash into one small 4-cubic yard dumpster, a 90 percent reduction.”

Brenot worked with Supply Management to right-size trash contracts for over a dozen participating Post Offices in the Toledo area. Trash pickup was reduced from weekly to monthly and container size was reduced to small, 2-yard containers — saving $50,000 annually for participating offices.

Brenot explained the biggest challenge was “trying to change people’s habits and old ways of thinking.” He added, “Sustainability is a win-win for the Post Office and the environment. We all need to do our part.”

people and community

Recycling Coordinator Leo Brenot

30 people and community

Patricia Holcomb: “Every Post Office should commit to a plan to go-greener, save expenses and the environment!”

Patricia Holcomb, a 30-year Postal employee, is the Postmaster in Farmington, AR, and has held several positions in customer and delivery service during her career.

Holcomb read an article in Postal Bulletin back in 2010 about the “Read, Respond, and Recycle” mail campaign in Post Office lobbies to recycle lobby discards. Holcomb said, “It took time. We had to change customer behavior and kept at it by placing ‘please recycle’ reminder notices in customer PO boxes and large posters in the lobby.”

This 10,000-square-foot Post Office not only responded with a successful lobby recycling campaign, but also took a

hard look at all its waste generation. “We set up recycling at every carrier route, and clerk and retail window station, for paper, plastic and cardboard,” Holcomb said. “All our employees participated.”

The result was elimination of a large trash dumpster and replacing it with a small, 30-gallon can. Everything else the facility generated was recycled — trash costs were reduced annually by over 90 percent. “We are now looking at energy consumption and how to reduce our energy and fuel costs,” Holcomb said.

“I’m willing to take a stand and contribute to a sustainable workplace. It’s all about attitude and motion. By doing the right thing as postal employees, we can make a difference with our own actions every day,” she said.

Lou Fallon: “Sustainability means ‘remain-ability’ for the Postal Service.”

Lou Fallon, with 33 years of service, manages the Erie, PA, Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF), which includes the New Castle, PA, satellite VMF. Fallon began his career as a clerk and has held various positions including safety and operations.

According to Fallon, related vehicle maintenance and repair shops pose special challenges and require a high level of focus in both environmental stewardship and work place safety. “We realized that all of us working together can make a difference,” he said.

Glacier and icebergs — Ice breaks from the foot of Alaska’s Bear Glacier and becomes icebergs in a lake. Dirt and rocks picked up by the glacier when it moves downhill can be seen at the edges and center of the glacier and in some of the bergs. The image was captured by the IKONOS satellite.

Farmington, AR, Postmaster Patricia Holcomb


The shop worked toward achieving zero waste and turning costs into revenue over time. They recycle or re-use nearly everything, including used motor oil, filters, used antifreeze, car parts, scrap metal, absorbent mats, uniforms, rags, aerosol cans, steel tire weights, batteries, tires, hand towels, mixed paper, plastic and cardboard. This has allowed them to eliminate onsite trash collection service. In particular, they also made a concerted effort to cap all floor drains and eliminate other sources to prevent potential accidental discharges to the environment and stormwater runoff. Meanwhile employees compiled an excellent accident record — none during the past eight years.

“It means a lot when employees tell me they have initiated these practices at home,” said Fallon. “Being sustainable in our jobs and lives keeps our planet’s ecosystem healthy.”

Green Teams on the rise

Last year we worked to provide tools and make it easier to help employees implement green initiatives at their facilities with online tutorial videos and training. This year we are seeing the results.

The number of Green Teams registered on our Green initiative tracking tool (GITT) grew to over 800 during 2012. The GITT identifies low- and no-cost green projects for any facility and also provides a tool to measure the success of green projects.

Lean Green teams play an integral role in helping the Postal Service create a culture of conservation. Their members adopt green practices in several categories, such as reducing facility energy and vehicle petroleum use, reducing the amount of solid waste sent to landfills, improving water efficiency, recycling and requisitioning fewer supplies. Team members represent a wide range of areas including delivery and retail operations, maintenance, supply management and human resources.

Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Day said, “All across the board, from supply management to facilities to delivery, we’re integrating sound sustainable business practices into our day-to-day operations.”

Postal employees set up lobby recycling.

Erie, PA, VMF Manager Lou Fallon

people and community 33

2012 Postmaster General Sustainability Excellence Award

Our third annual Postmaster General Sustainability Excellence award recognizes teams at facilities, districts, areas, and headquarters that have contributed to a sustainable workplace. The program is sponsored by the Postmaster General and implemented by the Sustainability Office with support from headquarters and field officers. This year, 10 outstanding teams were selected. “Leaner, greener, faster and smarter is our sustainability goal,” Postmaster General Pat Donahoe said. “It’s environmentally responsible and it’s a good business decision because when we lower our carbon footprint, we also bring our costs down.” The award recipients demonstrated how their local initiatives reduced energy consumption, vehicle petroleum use, waste sent to landfills, purchase of consumables, or water use. The 2012 award recipients:

� Headquarters, Supply Management — stamp shipments using excess packaging supply inventory

� Northeast Area, Northern New England District — recycling

� Capital Metro Area, Capital District — employees driving toward a greener tomorrow

� Western Area, Salt Lake City District — wilderness backhaul recycling

� Western Area, Denver Network Distribution Center — facility energy upgrades

� Western Area , Wichita Remote Encoding Center — goes green

� Eastern Area, Philadelphia Network Distribution Facility — sustainability program

� Western Area, Denver, Vehicle Maintenance Facility — recycling and petroleum reduction using b20 biodiesel

� Headquarters, Supply Management — operating the asset fulfillment recycling program

� Northeast Area, Errol, NH, Post Office — revenue, re-use and reducing landfill waste

Employees’ opinions matter — sustainability engagement

The Postal Service reaches out to all employees through its Voice of the Employee (VOE) survey. VOE measures employee engagement through questions about strategic direction, trust, contribution to USPS growth, communication, diversity and respect, commitment, sustainability and many other issues.

Recent VOE results show our employees are aware of and highly concerned about current business conditions. Respondents also said that they actively conserve resources such as water, fuel and electricity in the workplace.

Household diary study — engaging the American people.Since 1987, USPS has conducted a survey of America’s mail use to:

� Measure the mail sent and received by U.S. households.

� Provide a means to track household mail trends over time.

� Make comparisons of mail use between different types of households.

The Household Diary consists of a week-long account of each participant’s use of the mail. This survey helps us to be more responsive to customer needs

Did you know! More than 60 percent of all U.S. households visit a Post Office at least once a month. More than 27 percent of all U.S. households visit a Post Office three or more times a month.

Learn more at: http://about.usps.com/current-initiatives/studying-americans-mail-use.htm


Community involvement

The local Post Office remains an important part of a community and supports many national and local programs. Such programs reinforce the unique relationship the Postal Service has with the American people. We take pride in these national programs.

Postal Service employees pledged an average of $38 million annually to the Combined Federal Campaign, the world’s largest workplace philanthropy program.

Our letter carriers take a leading role in the annual Stamp out Hunger food drive. Last year, the Postal Service, the National Association of Letter Carriers, Feeding America, the Campbell Soup Company, and other partner organizations — including the National Rural Letter Carriers Association and other USPS employees — collected more than 70.7 million pounds of food during the nation’s largest single-day food drive.

Last year was the 20th anniversary of the drive and was the ninth consecutive time donations totaled more than 70 million pounds.

We assist with efforts to find missing children. Since 1985, USPS has worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Valassis to reunite families with missing children. Valassis publishes the RedPlum circular that showcases the “Have You Seen Me?” photos.

USPS is the nation’s leading organization in increasing the national registry of potential marrow donors to help save lives. Since 1997, we have recruited more than 58,200 employees and members of their families to become donors. More than 80 have become donors, helping critically ill patients. The Postal Service has now aligned its efforts with Be the Match, focusing on individuals between the ages of 18 and 44. Learn more information on Be the Match and how to become a marrow donor at bethematch.org.

Forever healthy stamp

To promote a healthy lifestyle, the surgeon general of the United States and the American Heart Association joined Postmaster General Pat Donahoe in dedicating the 2012 Heart Health Forever stamp.

“Nothing touches the heart like a letter from a loved one,” said Donahoe. “We hope Americans will use our 2012 Heart Health social awareness stamps for writing letters to loved ones and friends.”

The ceremony was held at the Medstar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC.

Letter Carrier Phil Lige unloads donated food.

From left, Dr. Stuart Seides, Physician Executive Director, MedStar Heart Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital; Barry Franklin, Member, National American Heart Association Board of Directors; Dr. Regina Benjamin, MBA, Surgeon General; Postmaster General Pat Donahoe; Michael Torchia, president and founder, Operation Fitness, and celebrity trainer.

people and community 35

Federal Duck stamps — an American conservation icon

The Hampton, VA, Post Office hosted an event at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World to celebrate the Federal Duck stamp’s 79th year of issuance. Federal Duck stamps have raised more than $851 million and helped the acquisition of more than 5.3 million acres of wetlands habitat since 1934 — facilitating one of the most successful conservation efforts in the world.

Participants included representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the City of Hampton, Bass Pro Shops, USPS and 2012-2013 Federal Duck stamp artist Joseph Hautman. Wetlands purify water, store flood waters and reduce erosion.

More than 98 percent of the revenue from these stamps is earmarked for the procurement of these natural habitats. “When wetlands are nourished and protected, the migratory birds, other wildlife, fish, plants and people all benefit,” said Hampton Postmaster Lucy Winmon.

“The Postal Service has worked with us to make this work,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel Ashe. “How many investments that you make have such a great rate of return?”

Dozens of hunters, philatelists, ornithologists and conservationists lined up to purchase the new duck stamp. According to Hautman, “I learned about conservation through duck stamps, which are truly small works of art.”

Hampton, VA, Postmaster Lucy Winmon sells the first Duck stamp to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel Ashe.

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Earthscapes: seeing our sustainable world in a new way.The entire collection of these stunning stamps is available at usps.com.

U.S. Postal Service 2012 Sustainability Report is published by:

United States Postal Service Office of Sustainability, Rm 2801 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW Washington, DC 20260-4233 [email protected]

© 2013 United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Read our 2012 Annual Sustainability Report at: usps.com/green.

Digitally printed on recycled paper with 100% post-consumer waste.

This document and all mail are recyclable. Please recycle!

u.s. postal service annual report 2012 - "earthscapes: seeing our world in a new way"

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