Despite being renowned as a good friend to the environment, hemp-wearing, animal-pelt shunning Woody Harrelson fell foul of the unofficial green police at Cannes recently. The crime? He reputedly 'flew out' his vegan belt and shoes from the US. OK, it was a shame he omitted them from his pleather luggage in the beginning, but to be fair the accessories didn't get their own Learjet. Rather, they were FedExed, as millions of items are every day.
However, unnecessary carbon footprints are the new scarlet letter - the eco burden of post is important, and often glossed over. At just 0.01kg of carbon per letter per person per year, a normal letter still represents good carbon value, especially relative to other forms of communication; mobile-phone chargers alone account for between 35kg to 70kg of carbon per person per year.
But in truth Postman Pat and his feline sidekick have been replaced by harassed deliverymen staggering beneath the weight of boxes full of manufactured goods, not polite invitations to tea. The number of parcels delivered to online customers is expected to reach 860m this year. The slower the post, the more sustainable it would be, but as consumers we want it quick. For 'next-day delivery' read carbon intensive (ie air freight).
TNT, DHL, Parcelforce, the Royal Mail and UK Mail are all anxious, however, to prove their green credential, usually by shrinking the footprint of their ubiquitous vans - 33,000 Royal Mail vans travel 600m miles a year, guzzling 153m litres of diesel. Slowly it is switching short-distance vans to electric. The aim is for Royal Mail to be carbon neutral by 2015 - let's hope this is not undone by the closure of 2,500 post offices, necessitating more of us in cars trying to find stamps.
When you consider that in the US 26m items of mail are delivered every hour, shipping boxes and mailing labels alone have serious deforestation potential. FedEx apparently has one reusable envelope. A singular innovation doesn't really push the proverbial envelope though, does it? Take matters into your own hands: one eco tipster suggests a small pot of non-flammable paint thinner on your desk (no inhaling or naked flames, please). Whenever you receive a parcel, paint a little on the labels, wait two minutes and then peel them off so the box is ready for reuse. Also ensure that mail is properly addressed: a letter in the wrong place is a true waste of carbon.
A sliding scale of wastefulness that brings me inevitably to unaddressed junk mail, which has grown fourfold over the past two decades. Some 78,000 tonnes of direct mail ended up in UK landfill in 2005. Now 70 per cent must be recycled by 2013. If you can't wait that long, contact the Mail Preference service (www.mpsonline.org.uk; 0845 703 4599) and take your name off the list. A rare right to reply.