TAMPA - Rich Rome likes to say that he hopes when people see a mail delivery truck, they see more than just red, white and blue.
He wants them to see green.
As Tampa's postmaster for the past five years, overseeing ZIP codes in Tampa and north Hillsborough beginning with 336, Rome has been stepping up his office's efforts to protect the environment. His work has not gone unnoticed.
The Tampa post office, based at Tampa International Airport, has been recognized by the Clean Air Partnership, Bay Area Commuter Services, and the county's Environmental Protection Commission. For the past five years, the post office has received the Hillsborough County recycling award.
In January, the Environmental Protection Commission gave Rome a certificate of appreciation for his individual efforts.
"He is truly an environmental leader in every sense of the word. I just marvel at all of the ideas he has put to use in the Postal Service," said County Commissioner Jan Platt, head of the Environmental Protection Commission.
Some of the programs Rome has overseen are part of a nationwide effort.
For example, of the 869 vehicles in the Tampa post office's fleet, 120 run on natural compressed gas instead of fossil fuel, and all vehicles are washed with waterless cleaner. Also, the Tampa post office has joined nationwide efforts in recycling cardboard, car parts and 603 tons of undeliverable junk mail last year.
"I feel I really have an obligation to do all we can," said Rome, who lives in Valrico. "It's important that any recyling program that comes down, we embrace it and make it even better."
In addition to national programs, Rome also initiated environment-friendly plans unique to Tampa.
He promotes ridesharing among his 1,200 employees. The Tampa post office also recycles all of its ink jet printer cartridges, and encourages customers to bring cartridges from home for recycling. Rome sends undeliverable books, toiletry and diaper samples to local charities.
In 2002, the Tampa post office tested the electric-powered Segway scooters for mail delivery.
Late last year, Rome consulted with city officials to make sure the irrigation systems at all 27 post offices were efficient, and he's shifting the landscaping to xeriscape, a drought-tolerant landscape, to cut down on the need for water. He equipped outdoor employee break areas with picnic benches made from recycled plastic.
Rome's environmentalism carries over into his personal life. He uses a bicycle for short trips to the grocery store, and his wife, Carolyn, who works as a nursing professor in Winter Haven, drives a hybrid car. Their yard is xeriscaped and a rain gauge automatically turns off their sprinkler system when the soil is adequately moist.
Rome traces his "green" tendencies to the 50 years he lived in a small town outside Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River.
"I remember as a kid when the Allegheny was flowing gray," he said.
While climbing on barges on the river, he could see raw sewage floating in the water, and smokestacks from steel mills continually belched dirty smoke. But over the years, things changed. The mills began adhering to emission controls, and sewage was diverted from the river.
Eventually, fish returned to the water, and by the time Rome had children of his own, people could put their boats - and even their bodies - in the Allegheny. Now it's designated as one of America's scenic rivers.
"It took hard work to do it," he said.
When he visited his hometown last July 4, he was delighted to see swimmers diving right into the water.
"We would never have been able to enjoy it," he said.
Rome joined the Postal Service in 1968 after serving in Vietnam. At the time, he said, most people living in New Kensington essentially had two options for employment: coal mines and steel mills.
He chose to use the GI bill to pursue a degree in business at Penn State University and to get a job at the Postal Service. He carried mail for nine years and loved spending his days outdoors.
"I even loved the cold," he said.
His career goal was to become New Kensington's postmaster and he accomplished that, but soon found he was bored. He knew everyone in town, knew where all the carriers hung out. He wanted to broaden his horizons. So in 1991, he accepted a job in Pittsburgh and in 1996 went to work in Washington, D.C., analyzing delivery service throughout the country.
A year later, he was offered a job in Tampa, and jumped at the chance to end his career in sunny Florida.
Last month, Rome announced plans to retire in June.
What will he do?
He imagines he'll be enjoying the environment he has worked so hard to protect. "I'm going to ride my bike a little farther," he said. "I'm going to play golf more than once a month. I'm going to do some boating more than once every six months, and I'm going to enjoy my health and family."
FAMILY: Wife, Carolyn; son Jeremy, 32; daughter Alyson, 27
OCCUPATION: Tampa postmaster
SPECIAL DELIVERY: As supervisor of all mail deliveries in ZIP codes that begin with 336, Rome oversees 1,200 people who distribute 317,000 pieces of mail 304 days a year.
FUN FACT: According to Rome, the average household in Tampa received 780 pieces of mail in 2003.
FIRST JOB: Delivering newspapers
HIS PASSION: Cycling
SHOW ME THE MONEY: Eighty percent of all mail, Rome said, has to do with money. "IOU, you owe me, and, boy, would I like to show you something to make you give me some of your money."
ON HIS WALL: The leather mailbag and pith helmet he used to deliver mail in New Kensington, Pa., 36 years ago hang in his office at the post office at Tampa International Airport.
