Carbon who puts out less email or the USPS?

1. Are You Ready?
United States Postal Service
vs.
Email
Carbon Emission Comparison

2. WASHINGTON, DC —The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on Thursday November 11
th
2010 unveiled goals
to significantly curb its emissions and petroleum use, a week after President Barack Obama ordered
federal agencies to create their own action plans to reduce/eliminate their environmental impacts.
The USPS, which is exempt from the executive order signed by Obama last week, plans to reduce
petroleum use by 20 percent by 2015 and greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Additionally,
the agency will trim energy use 30 percent by 2015, as it announced in 2008.
The 2020 emissions reduction target is in line with goals proposed by climate legislation under
development in Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives' bill passed over the summer calls for
emissions cuts of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, while a different bill under consideration in the
Senate is slightly more aggressive, with a goal of 20 percent fewer emissions in 2020, based on 2005
levels.
“At the Postal Service, we have a comprehensive approach to sustainable business practices, from the
way we sort mail, to the way we deliver it, to the green packaging we provide customers,” Sam Pulcrano,
USPS vice president of sustainability, said in a statement. “We recycle more than a quarter million tons of
paper and plastic annually and operate the world’s largest civilian fleet of alternative fuel-capable-vehicle
More than half of emissions 52 percent was generated by contracted transportation,
36 percent from its USPS owned and operated facilities
12 percent from its own vehicle fleet, which is also the largest collection of alternative fuel
vehicles in the United States
The agency swapped 6,500 inefficient vehicles for hybrids, four-cylinder and flex-fuel models this
year as part of the stimulus package.
The agency has implemented a number of initiatives to help it meet its goals, including tying the
energy and fuel reduction targets to pay-for-performance goals of postal managers. Its green IT
efforts have saved the agency more than $1 million in costs, while it also became the first shipper to
earn Cradle to Cradle certification for its packaging.
Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/10/16/usps-commits-shrinking-carbon-footprint-20-
percent-2020#ixzz15COVXH7u
A 2007 greenhouse gas inventory shows the agency produced
5.3 million tons of direct CO2 emissions.
The USPS is the only federal agency to publicly report its emissions

3. Spam 'produces 17m tons of CO2' per year.
A study into spam has blamed it for the production of more than 33bn kilowatt-hours of energy
every year, enough to power more than 2.4m homes.
The Carbon Footprint of e-mail Spam report estimated that 62 trillion spam emails are sent
globally every year. This amounted to emissions of more than 17 million tons of CO2, the
research by climate consultants ICF International and anti-virus firm McAfee found. Searching
for legitimate e-mails and deleting spam used some 80% of energy.
The study found that the average business user generates 131kg of CO2 every year, of which
22% is related to spam.
Unwanted traffic ICF says that spam filtering would reduce unwanted spam by 75%, the
equivalent to taking 2.3 million cars off the road. However, the ICF goes on to say that while
spam filtering is effective in reducing energy waste, fighting it at the source is far better.
The report highlights the case of McColo , a US web hosting firm that had ties to spammers.
The day after it was taken offline by its two internet service providers, global spam volume fell
by 70%. Although the respite was only temporary, McAfee said the "day without spam
amounted to talking 2.2 million cars off the road" and that tackling spam should be part of the
campaign to reduce carbon emissions.
Richi Jennings - an independent spam analyst who helped produce the report - told the BBC
that the figures were based on the extra energy use spent dealing with spam. "The PC on our
desks uses more power when they do work, so the numbers are based on the additional work
they use when dealing with spam," he said.
The Spam Report follows only a few days after Symantec's bi-annual Internet Security Threat
report, which found that spam had increased by 192%, with both networks responsible for
approximately 90% of all spam e-mail. Mr. Jennings said that while McAfee and Symantec had
different ways of measuring spam, he was in total agreement with the BOT network figure.
"Our report was based on mail that spammers attempt to send, including ones that are blocked
by an ISP at source. Symantec only measures spam that is successfully sent.
The Conclusion Email isn’t as inexpensive and green as we think!

4. Many marketers are pushing their customers toward electronic statements, e-newsletters, bills,
and transactional statements as a “green” move, but in reality, it has more to do with economics.
It’s cheaper for businesses to send electronic communications than print. But while pushing e-
communications as greener has anyone bothered to ask what customers how they feel about it?
Info-Print Solutions Company did. A joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, Info-Print conducted a
survey that found three out of four respondents would consider opting for traditional mail delivery
if they were informed it had less of a negative environmental impact than email. In addition, 50%
of consumers indicated that they still prefer to receive marketing information about new products
or services via traditional mail rather than email. Only 44% would rather receive marketing via
email.
Do preferences convert into action? Yes!
Not only do customers prefer print mail, but they are more likely to open it, even if both
communications come from a bank. The survey found that, while 71% of respondents “always”
open email containing a monthly bill, this jumped to 92% of consumers who received statements
by mail. Likewise, while 60% “always” open an email containing a bank statement, this jumps to
83% when the bank statement comes in the mail.
So if you’re looking to save money, by all means stick with the “move it all to e-media” strategy.
But if you’re looking to be more effective, don’t drop your print In fact, the more you learn about
the green nature of the printing industry and the more you can promote green print to your
customers, the more you’ll get the double bang for your buck. They want print and they want to be
green. So promote that print is green and you’ll be giving customers what they want and making
them feel good about it, too.
VS.
Let’s send some more email’s our potential clients will really understand our message!
With everyone bombarded by email overload, do you really think your ezine is being read?
A Nielsen Norman Group Report revealed that the typical email newsletter gets 51
seconds of your reader's time.
That was three years ago. Today, many say its closer to 26 seconds. And, that's if your
email newsletter is even opened.
You're not as popular as You Think
While you believe YOUR ezines are special and opened like gifts on Christmas morning,
remember this: Dozens of emails are routinely wiped out daily in one swoop with the push of the
delete key.
Even if the reader recognizes your name, you can be expunged just because they're having a
busy day or your email got caught in a large block of spam. Now, I'm not suggesting that you stop
doing email newsletters. In fact, I advise you to do an email newsletter on a weekly basis.

5. 6 Ways Print Newsletters Beat Email Newsletters
And Why They Need to Be Part of Your Marketing Mix
1. Printed mail gets delivered - It's never blocked or caught in spam filters. Faulty connections, email
authentication and webmail service idiosyncrasies are not issues. And, you have no worries about
connection speeds.
2. Print newsletters have more perceived value - Think about it: How many companies are willing to do
this? Your clients aren't stupid. They understand the energy, cost and time required to send them a great
newsletter every month. It will get their immediate attention.
3. Print newsletters let you use unlimited amount of images - A picture really is worth a thousand
words. Print newsletters are not shackled by bandwidth. That means you can use a variety of text, graphics
and formatting styles to capture the interest of your clients.
4. Print newsletter are sticky - Print newsletters have great 'hang-time'. Not only are they likely to be read
from start to finish, they usually get passed around. Hand-along readership can be as high as four-to-one.
Talk about free marketing!
5. Print newsletters offer convenient and comfortable reading - Printed newsletters are much easier on
the eyes. Reading articles of any length on a computer screen is uncomfortable and often inconvenient.
Plus, a print newsletter allows you to mark sections you find interesting, take it to work and leave it there to
be picked up by workmates.
6. Print newsletters stand out and get noticed - By using color, logos and a familiar return address, a
print newsletter is easy to spot. With an inbox filled with subject lines, every message looks the same.
Make no mistake. There is a place for electronic communication with your customers. Websites and email
are an important part of any business. But the hands down best choice for keeping customers and getting
more referrals and building relationships is to include print newsletters within your marketing mix You can
even offer your customers a choice. They will see that you really care about what they want, not just what
you are willing to provide for them. And that's what relationship marketing is all about, isn't it?

6. Print by Premier is committed to supporting the highest social and
environmental standards. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a nonprofit
organization devoted to be encouraging responsible management of the
world’s forests. The use of FSC certified paper and print products contribute to
conservation, responsible management and community level benefits in
regions that depend on the lumber industry.
Are we running out of trees in the U.S.? No; in fact, there are more trees in the U.S. today than
there were 70 years ago. Every day the paper and forest products industry plants more than three
times the number of trees than are harvested.
How many trees are planted each year in the U.S.? Over 2.5 billion trees are planted in the U.S.
each year. The forest community plants over 1.5 billion of these trees; that’s an average of 4 million
new trees planted every day by the forest community.
Are we cutting down more trees in the U.S. than we’re planting? No. In fact, forest growth has
exceeded harvests since the 1940s.
Paper vs. E-Waste Computers and Electronics • The amount of electricity to run a computer for
only five months could produce enough paper for the average person to use for an entire year. •
Paper is biodegradable and nearly 60 percent of all paper in the U.S. is recycled. • Only 18 percent
of all electronic devices are currently recycled and e-waste constitutes the single largest waste
export in the U.S.
Is “e-waste” considered hazardous? Certain components of some electronic products contain
materials that render them hazardous, depending on their condition and density. For instance,
California law currently views nonfunctioning CRTs (cathode ray tubes) from televisions and
monitor as hazardous.
What should I do with my electronic discards? The mantra of “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle”
applies here.
• Reduce your generation of e-waste through smart procurement and good maintenance.
• Reuse still functioning electronic equipment by donating or selling it to someone who can use it.
• Recycle those components that cannot be repaired.
To find an organization that reuses or recycles electronics, search the Electronic Product
Management Directory (EPMD).
Print is Good Print is Sustainable Print has lower CO2 vs. email Print doesn’t hurt the forest Print makes sense
Responsible Solutions