Mailroom Goes Paperless

By Nhan Phan ‘24

From Jan. 4 onwards, the mailroom is switching to a new paperless mail retrieval process in line with the Academy’s focus on sustainability. Students, upon arriving at the mailroom desk, will relay to the mailroom staff their PO box number and the information they received in emails from “PEA mailroom.” The information includes the number of packages that they are retrieving and the location of their package (usually marked as “Wall,” “Hall,” “Large,” “Shelf,” etcetera).

The shift to this paperless system aspires to render mailroom operations more efficient than before. Mailroom supervisor Joe Goudreault explained, “The paperless process will save the mailroom time in the receiving of packages by not having to write each student's name on every box and having to place slips into each individual mailbox.” 

Moreover, this new change promises to significantly reduce not just waste, but also costs for the mailroom. “We were using laminated colored slips and passing them back and forth from the mailroom to the students. It did cost [us] to have laminated cards made and students usually just tossed out the paper slips after they’ve received their package. By going paperless we are committed to using less paper.”