Green Teams Help U.S. Postal Service Save Millions

"The Postal Service has more than 32,000 facilities, a presence in every community and one of the largest civilian fleets in the nation, so we understand how pivotal our efforts are to make a positive impact on the environment," Day added. "Our green teams are an important part of our conservation culture, and the effort to reduce our carbon footprint."

The Postal Service buys sustainable materials and works to reduce the amount of supplies it purchases. The agency first developed a "buy green" policy nearly 15 years ago, and has a goal to reduce spending on supplies 30 percent by 2020. Additionally, the Postal Service is working to increase the amount of environmentally preferable products it buys by 50 percent by 2015. Environmentally preferable products are bio-based, energy and water efficient, eco-labeled or contain recycled material.

In its shipping supplies, the Postal Service uses post-consumer recycled content materials diverted from the waste stream, which benefits the environment and helps customers go green when they mail their packages with the Postal Service.

The Postal Service is the first federal agency to publicly report its greenhouse gas emissions and receive third-party verification of the results. For more information about the Postal Service's sustainability initiatives, including the Go Green Forever stamps, visit usps.com/green and the Postal Store.

The Postal Service has won numerous environmental honors, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) WasteWise Partner of the Year award in 2010 and 2011, the EPA's National Partnership for Environmental Priorities award in 2011, The Climate Registry Gold award in 2011 and the 2012 GreenGov Presidential Award.

USPS participates in the International Post Corporation's Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System, the global postal industry's program to reduce its carbon footprint 20 percent by 2020 compared to 2008.

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

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