On Feb 12th, I went to get the mail from my PO Box and in it was the following postcard:
The gist of this postcard is as follows. They want me to recycle any mail I get in my PO Box and they are providing a box to allow me to do so while still protecting my privacy. The rest is all rah rah environment, etc.
Except, they printed up hundreds and hundreds of post cards to encourage me to recycle. The irony of the amount of paper and resources they wasted to get this message out when a poster or two in the PO Box lobby would have done the same is, on its own, astonishing. But, OK, I have to appreciate the idea behind the gesture.
Now, I am a big conservationist. I usually take my PO Box junk mail home specifically so I can recycle it so I was pleased to hear that I could recycle it right there in the post office.
So I turned around to put this card and my other junk mail in the previously mentioned blue recycling container. I looked in the lobby. I looked under the tables. I finally went into the post office proper and looked all over that office, including under the tables. There was no blue container. Expanding my definition of “blue container” I looked for anything with the promised Recycle words on it and still found nothing.
When I returned to the lobby, I finally realized why so many of these “Thank you for helping the Postal Service do its part to protect the environment!” cards were all over the floor. There was also a trash can in the lobby and in there, amidst the discarded soda bottles and other trash, were hundreds more of these paper cards.
So let’s review. The post office used tons of resources to print up hundreds of cards encouraging people to recycle and then didn’t even put out the bins they promised to put out so that we could even attempt to recycle the card telling us to recycle. This is beyond sad.
OK, maybe they sent the cards out early and the bins are coming at a later day. There is still no excuse for this mess.
So while I brought my card home to scan in for you and then recycle, most other post office patrons either just simply threw the card in the trash or, flummoxed by the lack of promised box, threw it on the floor. I can’t help but feel we missed the boat a bit on this effort, guys!
If this is the Post Office’s part in helping the environment, I’d hate to see their part in hurting it!
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The first part of this (printing all those postcards) reminds me of how the IRS sends out those self-congratulatory postcards telling you to expect a rebate check … but how much did they spend on the postcards, just send me the damn check!
Good intentions … poor execution.