Be Frugal With Your Mail

The Postal Service needs more money, but it may not come from federal customers. The General Services Administration is asking agencies to be frugal when it comes to mail. A new GSA bulletin encouraged agencies to use the Postal Service's flat-rate boxes and envelopes, schedule mail in advance to take advantage of USPS discounts and go electronic whenever possible. Executive orders geared toward making agencies less wasteful, more efficient and more green prompted the bulletin. Meanwhile, the Postal Service said it was losing billions of dollars in part because customers, including agencies, are turning away from snail mail and toward e-mail.