To the Editor:

It is a great honor to serve Newtown as your new Postmaster. In my nine years with the United States Postal Service, I have seen firsthand the role the Postal Service plays connecting neighbors and our community to the nation. Our Post Offices serve as a lifeline for our small businesses to reach customers no matter where they are.

In honor of Earth Day this April, I wanted to share some exciting steps the Postal Service has taken towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the organization.

Through our Delivering for America plan, during the next five years, we will acquire and deploy 106,000 new fuel-efficient vehicles — including 66,000 electric vehicles, or EVs — as we retire our existing 30-year-old delivery fleet. The Postal Service will be an EV leader.

We are rolling out charging stations across our network to power our EV fleet.

New vehicles are part of the Postal Service’s larger sustainability transformation, which includes better use of our regional and local transportation network to reduce emissions by cutting thousands of trips each day. Other initiatives will increase our package recyclability to 88 percent, while diverting 75 percent of our waste from landfills.

As we transform our operating processes and invest in new automation, new technologies and upgraded facilities and vehicles, we will generate significant efficiencies that reduce our costs, minimize waste across all functions of our operations and slash our carbon footprint.

We will be the country’s greenest delivery service because it’s good for the environment, our business, our employees and our customers.

Just as the Postal Service continues to provide a vital service for our nation, the staff of the Newtown Post Office will proudly continue that same public service in this community.

On behalf of the 650,000 women and men of the United States Postal Service, I thank you for continuing to support the Postal Service. Providing reliable mail delivery while strengthening the future of this treasured institution is our commitment to you. We are proud to celebrate a greener Earth Day with you.

Sincerely,

Jessica Kelly

Postmaster, Newtown Post Office

Newtown