Postal Service Delivers a Greener America
A recognized sustainability leader and innovator, the U.S. Postal Service continued a 50-year tradition today with the issuance of its latest social awareness stamp: Go Green. The sheet of Forever stamps features 16 actions anyone can take to make a positive impact on the environment.
The stamps and philatelic products can be ordered online at usps.com/green.
The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Go Green stamps took place at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School and adjoining Savoy Elementary School, steps from the largest green garden in the Washington, DC, public school system.
"We're creating a culture of conservation at the Postal Service that will have a lasting impact in our workplace and our communities," said Ronald A. Stroman, Deputy Postmaster General. "The Go Green stamps carry 16 simple, green messages that have the power to help make the world a better place for us and future generations."
Joining Stroman at the ceremony were Lisa P. Jackson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator; Alexandra Pardo, Thurgood Marshall academic director; Patrick Pope, Savoy principal and Emil Dzuray, USPS Acting Chief Sustainability Officer. William McDonough, cofounder and principal of MBDC, creators of the Cradle to Cradle certification program, participated as an honored guest.
"With these Go Green stamps, the Postal Service is reminding us of the important steps we can take each day to have an impact on the world around us," said Jackson. "These stamps demonstrate individual actions — from saving energy or water to reducing waste — that add up to a big difference for our health and our environment."
In a crowd-pleasing finale, the event closed with the arrival of a three-wheeled electric mail delivery vehicle, which delivered ceremonial, indigenous trees for both schools — symbolic of USPS delivering a greener America.
USPS is the only mailing and shipping company in the world whose stamp products and shipping supplies have earned Cradle to Cradle Certification, meaning they meet established standards for human and environmental health and recyclability.
USPS has been environmentally friendly since 1899 when it tested the first electric vehicle in Buffalo, NY. Today, the agency operates more than 44,000 alternative fuel capable mail delivery vehicles across the country, including ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas and electric. Since 2005, USPS has increased its use of alternative fuels 133 percent, and since 2003, has reduced its facility energy use 28 percent. The Postal Service chose the Go Green stamps as this year's social awareness stamps to help raise awareness about helping the environment.