SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Being a college student, I really don't have a budget to get items I need ( like books, hangers, whatever) so I often turn to the service Freecycle--which I guess inspired me with this idea. Since each Department is complied of many offices, I think we should create an inter-office supply network. Similar to the website/program Freecylce, offices within each Department can post wanted ads for supplies they need and offices... more »

We have to much money going to countries that are harboring Terrorists and those would do harm to the United states. That money could be better spent here at home on our own people who are hungry, who are homeless, who are under-educated, who are destitute. We have way to many problems here that need to be taken care of first. Our infrastructure is falling down around us. There are bridges and roads in such disrepair... more »

Dedicate a full time employee at each location that does significant purchasing to be solely responsible for obtaining excess government property offered by other agencies. I have saved over $200,000 in the last 6 months by just obtaining excess property in my free time. If the other 113 locations in this single agency did the same we could realize over 44 million in savings per year. If it were required across the... more »

Allow the donation of the value of excess annual leave directly to deficit reduction. Employees could elect to donate their excess annual leave. Also, the value of all lost annual leave could be used to reduce the federal deficit.

Close all offices except essential personnel the day after Thanksgiving. Many people use this day and its a waste to operate with lights, energy, guards, etc... for a few people.

The Government buys every employee on the work floor a new pair of boots each calendar year. THey do not buy cheap boots, but top named brands like Red Wing. I understand that there are folks who literally have pairs of new boots at home and are still using the ones they first received!

These boots are anywhere from $80 to $120 or more. You can see how this can add up quickly. With maybe a thousand people in the... more »

Problem, as I perceive it:

Valuable equipment that is disposed of via the Defense Reutilization Management Office (DRMO) process often results in a lost opportunity for reuse within the DOD and other government organizations. This is due to the narrow visibility given to item being disposed of. If greater visibility were given to a specific item in the DRMO process, then there would be a greater chance for reuse to occur.... more »

Federal Agencies, particularly DOD dispose of usable excess property in an obscenely wasteful manner and only pay lip service to reusing excess property within agencies.
Entity with big budgets buy the best gear for themselves while units with smaller budgets struggle to keep old equipment working while the castoffs from the well-funded units corrode in warehouses.

A private contractor is in charge of disposing... more »