Technologies
Sustainability
Dianne Shoaf
US Postal Service
®
What is Sustainability?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sustainable
1: capable of being sustained
2a: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or
using a resource so that the resource is not depleted
or permanently damaged <sustainable techniques>
<sustainable agriculture>
2b: of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of
sustainable methods <sustainable society>
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What is Sustainability?
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
What is sustainability?
Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we
need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or
indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and
maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist
in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic
and other requirements of present and future generations.
Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will
continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect
human health and our environment.
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What is Sustainability?
most frequently cited definition:
Sustainable development: "development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.“ *
*Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report, Oct
1987, a document which coined, and defined the meaning of the
term "Sustainable Development“ - Brundtland Commission (UN),
Formally known as the World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED),
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U.S. Federal Government
Executive Order 13423: “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and
Transportation Management” of Jan 24, 2007 set policy for federal agencies to
”conduct their environmental, transportation, and energy-related activities
under the law in support of their respective missions in an environmentally,
economically and fiscally sound, integrated, continuously improving, efficient,
and sustainable manner.”
Executive Order 13514: “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and
Economic Performance” of Oct 5, 2009 builds on EO 13423 (including
requirement for feds to set a 2020 GHG reduction goal) "to establish an
integrated strategy towards sustainability in the Federal Government and to
make reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) a priority for Federal
agencies.”
https://www.fedcenter.gov/programs/sustainability/
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Case Study:
Sustainability at the USPS
Balancing people, planet, profit…
People
Planet
Profit
Safety & health
Job Creation
Human rights
Diversity
Zero waste, releases, & spills
Clean air, water, land
Global Climate Change
Reduced emissions
Innovation
Capital Efficiency
Risk management
Margin Improvement
…to ensure a viable US Postal Service
that provides affordable, universal service
for current and future generations.
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Our Vision: Be a Sustainability Leader
Green business approach: create value for customers,
employees and communities.
Embrace opportunities, manage risks due to economic,
environmental and social changes.
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Our Vision: Be a Sustainability leader
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USPS Priorities
 Integrate sustainability into USPS
performance-based management
 Build a Conservation Culture
 Use sustainability to enhance postal services
 Lead industry to adopt sustainable business
practices
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Integrate Sustainability into USPS
Performance-based Management
 Establish energy reduction goals
30% reduction in facility energy use
20% reduction of petroleum use
 Add energy goals to performance system
 Baseline corporate GHG emissions
 Produce sustainability performance report
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Sustainability Targets
Corporate Sustainability Goals
Eliminate all wasted facility energy1
(2003 baseline)
Reduce vehicle petroleum fuel
consumption1
FY15 Target to
Baseline
30% reduction
20% reduction
(2005 baseline)
Divert solid waste to recycling
(2009 baseline)
Eliminate all wasted water
(2007 baseline)
Reduce consumables spending
(2008 Baseline)
1 Aligns to National Performance Assessment (NPA)
50% diversion
26% reduction
(by FY20)
30% reduction
(by FY20)
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Build a Conservation Culture
 Engage employees
 1328 and Counting: Facilities participating in
Lean Green Team Initiative to do low- and no-cost
projects to reduce waste of:
Facility energy use
Vehicle petroleum use
Waste to landfills
Consumables (paper, ink, etc.)
Water use
 Use Infrastructure:
 Backhaul Recyclables
 Reverse Logistics – Partner with Mailers
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Lean Green Team Home Page
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Lean Green Teams
– Process for measuring information in several different formats
• Data is fed into the Green Initiative Tracking Tool (GITT) from the same sources
that are used for annual reporting as required by the Executive Order: EDW,
EEMS, FAMS, SEAM
• Data reports can be pulled up at every level: National, Area, District and
Facility to represent the status of facilities in those groups
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Good for Business? Yes!
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Good for Business? Yes!
USPS saves green by staying green
The Postal Service realized $76 million in combined savings and
revenue last year by conserving energy and recycling tons of
materials with the help of employee lean green teams.
The teams recycled nearly 254,000 tons of material, which
generated $24 million in new revenue and saved $26 million in
landfill fees. Through other conservation efforts, the teams also
saved $12 million in vehicle fuel cost avoidance, more than $10
million in facility energy savings and nearly $1 million in water
savings. USPS also saved $4 million by decreasing the need for
certain supplies.
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Use Sustainability to Enhance
Postal Services
 Reduce UAA (Undeliverable As Addressed)
Change-of-address online - usps.com
Secure Destruction Pilot Project
 Recycling by Mail
Small electronics
Reverse logistics
National Recycling Program for Feds
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Lead Mailing Industry in Sustainable
Business Practices
 Guidance to mailers at www.USPS.com/green
 Certified products
 Baseline performance via life-cycle inventory of
mail’s environmental impact
 Engage customers and public
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Life Cycle Inventory study:
Product-level Perspective
®
Activities of Daily Life
KG CO2 e.
All mail: per year per average household
236
Coffee maker: one hour per day for a year
236
Electric dryer: two hours per week for a year
219
Dishwasher: three times per week for a year
174
Personal computer/monitor: 20 hours per week for a year
174
5 HP lawnmower: 25 times, one hour each
58
Clock radio: year
54
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Certified products
 Priority Mail and Express Mail
Boxes, envelopes, mailing
labels, label tape
 ReadyPost
Boxes, envelopes, mailers
 Continuity menu-boards
 Cradle-to-Cradle
Stamps, stamped postcards
and envelopes
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Engage Customers
 “Read-Respond-Recycle” in-lobby recycling
 usps.com/green website
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Publicly report performance
9.9% decrease —:
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.
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•
•
•
•
Lessons Learned
Lead by example from the top
Tie initiatives to core business
Make it part of everyone’s job performance
Build on success
Engage customers
• Take action!
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The USPS:
522,144 people working in over 31,000 facilities and
driving 212,530 vehicles 1.3 billion miles to deliver
160 billion pieces of mail last year (40% of world’s
volume)
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Promoting a Viable Postal Service
through Sustainability Leadership
To our Employees:
To the Communities We Serve:
Being a sustainability leader goes
hand in hand with being leaner,
smarter and faster.
“We need to continue to optimize
our network, realign our workforce,
reduce energy use and our physical
footprint, and drive costs out of
every aspect of the Postal Service.”
Leadership in sustainability
requires support and involvement
from all of you.
PMG Pat Donahoe
Our Sustainability Promise:
Because of our size, our
activities have an
enormous impact, socially,
economically and
environmentally. We’ve
chosen to use that impact
to make a positive
difference wherever we can.
PMG Jack Potter
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