Go Green Forever Stamps
Overview
With the Go Green First-Class Mail® Forever® commemorative stamps, the Postal Service™ seeks to raise awareness of simple actions everyone can take to conserve natural resources and promote the health of the environment. The stamps convey a positive message about easy low-cost and no-cost things everyone can do to have an immediate impact on the environment.
Concept
The Go Green stamps are:
n A visual reinforcement of the Postal Service’s position as a sustainability leader and innovator.
n Another vehicle for USPS® to communicate its sustainability leadership position to the public.
n Iconographic — a visual representation of America’s green movement and the Postal Service’s leadership in sustainability.
Key Messages
n The Postal Service is green, and the Go Green stamps will help America go green.
n The Postal Service has been environmentally friendly since the 1800s, and has issued the Go Green stamps to help Americans of any age, in every community, participate in simple low-cost and no-cost ways to go green.
n The Postal Service is the only mailing and shipping company in the world whose shipping supplies are Cradle to Cradle Certified, meeting established standards for human and environmental health and recyclability.
n USPS is issuing 27 billion Cradle to Cradle Certified postage products, including the Go Green stamps, which promote environmental awareness and action.
n A recognized sustainability leader and innovator, the Postal Service is becoming greener and decreasing its carbon footprint and has created the Go Green stamps to help raise Americans’ awareness so they can do the same.
Stamp Profile
The Go Green pane of 16 commemorative stamps is the Social Awareness stamp subject of 2011. They feature illustrations of simple low-cost and no-cost actions everyone can take to conserve natural resources and promote the health of our environment.
The Go Green stamps are being issued as Forever stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce rate.
Artist Eli Noyes of San Francisco, California, gets the point across in a colorful and playful manner. The art shows both genders and a range of ages, from a small girl turning off a light switch to an adult choosing to walk instead of drive. It conveys a positive message: things everyone can do easily to have a positive impact on air quality and energy consumed.
Consider, for example, recycling — an action suggested on one of the stamps. Most people know recycling cans and bottles reduces the amount of waste at landfills. But how many know that it also saves energy equivalent to billions of gallons of gasoline every year and reduces greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing millions of cars from the roads? That’s because making containers such as aluminum cans from raw rather than recycled materials is extremely energy-intensive and releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the air.
Action items on other stamps include examples such as fixing a leaky faucet, which can save thousands of gallons of water per year, and installing the simplest insulation, like caulking or weather stripping, which can pay for itself in reduced utility bills within 1 year. In fact, insulating the home is one of the best things anyone can do for the environment since homes consume about a fifth of all energy used in the U.S. — more than cars or planes — and typically a third of this energy is wasted by escaping through cracks and poorly sealed areas.
Other actions featured on the stamps include adjusting thermostats, which can reduce utility bills by as much as 10 percent if turned down a few degrees in the winter and up during the summer, and planting a tree next to a home, which cuts cooling costs by providing shade during the summer and reduces winter heating costs by supplying a windbreak.
Many of the tips offered on these stamps — like turning out lights when leaving a room, or riding a bike instead of driving — are things people may be doing already. Others, like composting, may require more of a commitment. These stamps highlight how taking small steps such as the ones depicted here can add up to big savings in energy, resources, and costs.
If every person took one or more of these steps, imagine the positive impact on the environment and on the lives of future generations. Pitch in now and make a commitment to Go Green! The Postal Service is doing its part to go green by providing Cradle to Cradle Certified mailing and shipping supplies, which meet established standards for human and environmental health and recyclability.
First-Day-Of-Issue Information And Event Theme
On April 14, the Go Green stamps will be dedicated at an 11 a.m. (ET) ceremony at the Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School and adjoining Savoy Elementary School, Washington, DC, due to the schools’ Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)–certified gymnasium and the largest green garden in the Washington, DC, school system.
Event Theme
“The Postal Service is Delivering a Greener Tomorrow”
About The Stamps
1. Buy local produce, reuse bags.
2. Fix water leaks.
3. Share rides.
4. Turn off lights not in use.
5. Choose to walk.
6. GO GREEN — reduce our environmental footprint step by step.
7. Compost.
8. Let nature do the work.
9. Recycle more.
10. Ride a bike.
11. Plant trees.
12. Insulate the home.
13. Use public transportation.
14. Use efficient light bulbs.
15. Adjust the thermostat.
16. Maintain tire pressure.
n The First-Class Mail Forever commemorative stamps are called Go Green.
Big environment. Big issues. Little you. If you feel as if there’s not much one person can do to make a positive impact on the environment, just take a look at these Go Green stamps. They illustrate simple things we each can do every day. With only a few small changes to the way we live.
Out of milk? Walk or bike to the store. Repair that drippy faucet — the noise was driving you crazy, anyway. Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs. Put on a sweater instead of turning up the thermostat. Sun dry your sheets — they’ll smell wonderful!
Is it enough to make a difference? Absolutely. Recycling just one aluminum can reduces waste — and saves enough energy to run a computer for 3 hours. Multiply that by 10 — or 200 — cans. Simple insulation like caulking or weather stripping pays for itself with reduced utility bills within 1 year. Properly inflating your car tires improves gas mileage by as much as three percent. You’re not just saving the environment, you’re saving — period. Suddenly small steps seem pretty big.
Best of all, once you’ve started thinking — and acting — green, you’ll feel proud that you’ve been part of a big change. “Home” just got greener. Thanks to you.
The Postal Service is doing its part to go green by providing Cradle to Cradle Certified mailing and shipping supplies, which meet established standards for human and environmental health and recyclability.
n This is the 2011 Social Awareness stamp subject.
n The 44-cent stamps will be sold in panes of 16 for $7.04.
n 160 million stamps will be printed.
n A print run for commemorative stamps averages 65 million total stamps.
n These stamps continue a tradition for more than 50 years of the Postal Service bringing attention and awareness to serious social issues of the day…one letter at a time.