Let’s say it’s your job to deliver about 17 million packages. Every day. In 220 countries. Have you really got time to worry about your carbon footprint and your vehicle emissions?
UPS package delivery service says, “Yeah, we can do that.” The Atlanta-based company has worked to improve the sustainability of its far-flung operations for more than a decade. Sometimes called Big Brown for the color and size of its ubiquitous delivery vans, UPS recorded these achievements in a 2014 sustainability report:
- Exceeded its goal for 2016 of reducing its fleet’s carbon intensity by 10 percent. (Carbon intensity measures carbon emitted against economic production.)
- Reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 percent from 2012 to 2013 while increasing the number of packages delivered.
- Operated a “rolling laboratory” of nearly 3,700 alternative-fuel and advanced-technology vehicles worldwide to test, optimize and deploy new-generation vehicles.
- With a smart-fuel fleet that traveled 88.5 million kilometers (55 million miles) worldwide in 2013, saved 22 million liters (5.8 million gallons) of conventional gasoline and diesel.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized UPS for its excellence in greenhouse gas management. It was one of six organizations from a diverse cross section of U.S. corporate citizens to receive the climate leadership awards February 24.
“These organizations are providing the leadership, commitment and solutions needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet head-on the challenge of a changing climate,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said.
