Image copyright Posti Image caption Postal workers have volunteered to take part in the lawn-mowing initiative 
 
 Finland's postal service will be doing more than just delivering letters and parcels this summer - its workers will be mowing lawns, too. 
 
 The state-owned Posti company is offering a weekly grass cutting service, with customers able to choose either 30 minutes or 60 minutes of lawn-mowing time, the national broadcaster Yle reports. It will only be available on Tuesdays, though, as the volume of post tends to be lighter than on other days, and customers will have to provide their own lawnmower. They'll also have to be willing to pay 65 euro (£51; $73) a month for the half-hour sessions. 
 
 Posti has been looking for ways to tackle a falling demand for its mail services in recent years. Earlier this month it announced that delivery times would be extended into the evenings when people are usually at home. 
 
 According to Anu Punola, a manager at the company, venturing into the world of gardening was a grassroots idea which came from postal workers themselves. "We have genuinely tried to find services that would make people's lives easier," she says, adding that staff have volunteered to take part in the initiative. It will be available nationwide between May and August. 
 
 At least one organisation isn't happy about the plan, though. The Real Estate Employers group, which represents property maintenance companies, says it's concerned that postal workers don't have the right skills. "Using power-driven machinery and equipment requires a certain expertise," says managing director Pia Gramen. "It is hard to believe that just anyone can start to cut lawns." 
 
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 This summer, Posti will mow your lawn for you 
 
 21.04.2016 
 
 Posti's online shop will soon accept orders for a new lawn mowing service. The service will be performed in conjunction with mail delivery on Tuesdays and it will be available in one-month packages. The first date the service can be performed is May 17, and the service will be available until the end of August. 
 
 Posti has developed new home-delivered services to add more work to mail delivery operations. Traditional mail volumes are falling, but mail routes nevertheless reach some 2.8 households on every weekday. Posti's new home services will see it transform increasingly into a service company. 
 
 "Lawn mowing is the first home service that consumers can order from Posti. We will pilot the service this summer throughout the country. The idea for the lawn mowing service came from mail delivery employees. We believe many customers will be happy to outsource lawn mowing when we make it convenient for them to do so," says Anu Punola, Director at Posti. 
 
 Orders for lawn mowing services will be taken into account in the planning of mail delivery routes. The service will be offered on Tuesdays due to the lower volume of advertisements and publications distributed on that day. The service will be performed using the customer's lawn mower and within the time estimated by the customer. In the event of rain on the day of intended service delivery, the lawn will be mowed at another time. 
 
 "Posti hopes Finland will see great weather this summer and that our customers enjoy the hottest time of the year. This summer, we invite you to rely on our nationwide network of professionals to help you maintain your lawn," Punola adds. 
 
 Mail delivery employees are close to customers 
 
 The work of mail delivery employees has become increasingly diverse. With extensive experience of meal delivery, Posti currently delivers some two million meals to Finnish homes annually. As part of the development of new home services, Posti is also partnering with the South Karelia Social and Health Care District Eksote in the provision of home care and services for people with disabilities by assisting customers with eating and daily chores. Posti is also partnering with Securitas to perform security services in a pilot being conducted in the Finnish towns of Muhos and Ylivieska. 
 
 Lawn mowing service is tax-deductible for domestic costs 
 
 Orders for lawn mowing services can be placed via Posti's online shop at posti.fi/ruohonleikkaus. The payment methods accepted by the online shop are online banking and credit cards. Customers should also note that the service is tax-deductible for domestic costs. 
 
 Service prices: 
 
 30 minutes every Tuesday, EUR 65/month 
 
 60 minutes every Tuesday, EUR 130/month 
 
 Posti's lawn mowing service can be ordered in May for the last two weeks of the month. The price will be half of the monthly price. Orders for the lawn mowing service must be placed no later than one week before the start of the next calendar month. Customers will receive an e-mail confirmation of their order and a reminder message on the day before the lawn mowing service is performed. ||||| Image: Posti 
 
 Starting in May, Finnish residents will no longer receive garden variety mail services, as the postal delivery company Posti moves to introduce a new grass cutting service. 
 
 In a statement released Thursday, Posti said that customers will be able to order the service from next week, although postal workers won’t begin tending lawns until May. 
 
 The lawn maintenance service will be available with mail delivery on Tuesdays. The company explained the choice of service time by noting that mail volumes on Tuesday are typically lower than on other days. Customers will be able to order the weekly half-hour trim for a monthly fee of 65 euros. 
 
 Posti: Idea came from the ground up 
 
 The idea for the grassroots service came from Posti mail carriers, according to director Anu Punola. She pointed out that Posti is in a period of transition caused by falling mail volumes. The firm also field-tested the idea on consumers. 
 
 "We have genuinely tried to find services that would make people’s lives easier," she added. 
 
 Punola noted that mail carriers can volunteer to tend customers’ lawns and added that supervisors have determined which employees are willing to pitch in. 
 
 "We have been able to find volunteers," Punola commented and said other services are in the works. She would not reveal what the company has up its sleeve, but said the ideas must be competitive. 
 
 Consumers will be able to purchase the new service for one-month periods and mail carriers will actually begin tackling lawns from May 17. The service will close at the end of August. 
 
 Postal workers won’t carry lawnmowers on the job, so customers must have one on hand. In the event of rain, the service will be postponed. ||||| Posti offers its new home services to the South Karelia Social and Health Care District 
 
 11.02.2016 
 
 Posti has launched the first municipal cooperation within Posti's new home services with the South Karelia Social and Health Care District Eksote. During the 12-month pilot, Posti's employees will help Eksote's home care clients as well as clients using services for the disabled in their daily lives as part of meal or mail delivery. Eksote's aim in combining home care with Posti's services is to improve its clients' ability to function and quality of life at home. 
 
 Eksote wants to make the support its clients need for coping at home as easily and flexibly available as possible. Posti's network of professionals reaches both densely and sparsely populated areas every weekday, which helps municipalities to provide support in the client's home. 
 
 - All our clients have their individual needs and ways of life, which means that the services must be customizable. Receiving help from Posti's employee for daily tasks to complement home care will mean stronger support networks for our clients. The feedback from our clients has been positive. Many of our clients already know Posti's employees from meal and mail delivery, says Taina Jaako, Director of Care at Eksote. 
 
 - Posti's task is to help clients with their daily chores during the visit, to talk to them, and to notify Eksote of any exceptions. Combining home services with Posti's other operations - meal deliveries or mail delivery - is a natural choice. Posti can arrange even short visits cost-effectively, Tiina Tapionlinna, Project Director at Posti says. 
 
 Posti helps with daily chores, Eksote provides care 
 
 Posti's employees will perform specific, predefined tasks. Depending on the client's needs, these could include warming up meals, assisting in eating, and other forms of support for everyday life. Eksote's employees are responsible for health care and other tasks that require competence in social or health care. 
 
 - In the care for the elderly, helping the clients with their everyday chores is a major part of the work of home care providers, and the contract with Posti will give us more resources for this. The aging of the population will increase the need for services provided in homes. For Eksote's clients in services for the disabled, Posti creates added value through an improved sense of security, by having someone visit the clients between the visits by our professionals, Merja Heinonen, Service Manager at Eksote says. 
 
 Posti's home services are available for clients selected by Eksote in Ylämaa, Savitaipale and Rautjärvi. Posti has years of experience in cooperation with municipal home care in the form of meal deliveries. 
 
 Posti's employees are always near 
 
 As digitalization is decreasing the volume of traditional mail, Posti is investing in developing its business in services related to care, security, housekeeping, and property management. Posti's network of professionals and our transport fleet cover the entire country, and they can be used for the benefit of companies, cities and consumer customers in many ways in addition to the delivery of mail and meals. Posti reaches 2.8 million households every weekday. 
 
 Posti has launched a trial with Securitas on alarm and security services in Muhos and Ylivieska. The trial will last for this spring. In Oulu, Posti has launched a pilot project, during which Posti's mail deliverers visit the homes of elderly clients. The deliverer meets the elderly client and informs their family member of how the person was feeling that day. In addition, Posti is planning to extend its services to housekeeping and property management. 
 
 Posti Group is your first choice in postal, logistics, and e-commerce services. We manage the flow of commerce and everyday life in nine countries. Our net sales in 2014 amounted to EUR 1.859 billion. We employ approximately 23,000 professionals who serve our customers in Finland under the name Posti and in other countries under the name Itella. All of our services in Finland are carbon neutral. www.posti.com. 
 
 South Karelia Social and Health Care District (Eksote) provides health, family, social, and elderly services that promote people's health, well-being, and ability to function. Eksote makes service agreements with the municipalities, based on the service need of the population. Eksote is a joint municipal authority that comprises nine municipalities: Imatra, Lappeenranta, Lemi, Luumäki, Parikkala, Rautjärvi, Ruokolahti, Savitaipale, and Taipalsaari. The population served by Eksote is approximately 133,000. The services produced by Eksote include outpatient care, oral health care, mental health care and substance abuse services, laboratory and imaging examination services, medicinal care, rehabilitation services, hospital services, family services, social services for adults, special services for the disabled, and flexible services for the elderly that are adaptable to the needs and age structure of the population. Eksote includes the South Karelia health care district and the South Karelia special care district.​
– The USPS isn't the only woebegone postal service. Things are bad enough in Finland that the state-owned Posti is getting into ... lawn care. Under the new program, which begins next month, postal workers will mow residents' lawns each Tuesday, when mail volumes are typically lower, broadcaster Yle reports. Interested Finns can go online to order the service, which will run from May 17 through August. A weekly 30-minute cut will cost about $74 a month, and homeowners must provide the mower. In a press release, Posti head Anu Punola says she anticipates that people will be "happy to outsource lawn mowing," adding that the idea came from the mail carriers themselves. Last year, Posti reported losses of about $85 million, per the Atlantic, with delivery volumes down to 1960s levels. Nonetheless, Posti says, mail service is provided to 2.8 million households and "new home services will see it transform increasingly into a service company." Indeed, the Atlantic notes Posti launched a 12-month pilot program in February where, in partnership with a health-services company, postal workers will visit the homes of people with disabilities and do light chores, like warming up meals and helping with eating. "Posti's network of professionals reaches both densely and sparsely populated areas every weekday," points out a press release. As for the mowing, some are grumbling. The BBC reports a group that represents property maintenance companies is concerned postal workers don't have the "expertise" to operate lawnmowers, adding, "It is hard to believe that just anyone can start to cut lawns."