SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

By scanning and posting copies of reports on line (i.e., H: drive) for Resident Posts (RP's), rather than copying and mailing; it would save the cost of paper, postage, toner, and equipment wear-and-tear. In addition, scanning rather than mailing reports would save many man hours (labor costs), as well as preparation time for mailing. On the receiving end, it would save labor costs by eliminating the amount of filing,... more »

Currently all department employees must fill out paper time sheets and SF-71 leave requests. These have to be then typed into a computer system which takes 1 FTE per 400 employees (takes our office staff 1 day per 40 persons for data entry). There are about 1,000 different pieces of office software designed for this function and I'm positive that it would cost less in paper and time to use even the most expensive software... more »

It would save considerable money if all General Counsel offices across the federal government stopped using printed refernece materials. These are all available electronically -- both the most up-to-date versions and prior versions. In order to allow attorneys the portability of a book, however, one option would be to purchase several e-reader devices (such as a Kindle, Nook, or something similar) that would have subscriptions... more »

Recently the Office of Head Start launched its Head Start Enterprise System (HSES). It's a great green tool for OHS and its grantees, allowing us to share files through a singular source.

I propose a similar tool for the Office of Grants Management. Rather than mailing hard copies to the Regional Office, grantees can simply upload documents for OGM to archive accordingly. This would reduce filing, use of stationary,... more »

All documentation within our systems should be electronic, as it allows us to better manage, organize, store, transport and replicate information. We will save a lot, by implementing this initiative completely. With the production of large amounts of documentation there is a lot of overhead.

Agencies must supply not only the printers but all the parts to maintain them – along with service contracts and of course, paper.... more »

Stop printing The Internal Revenue Bulletin covert it to a PDF or email it to Employees. In my unit we get the Internal Revenue Bulletin every week. I do not need it for my job because I do not deal with advance tax law. My units Internal Revenue Manual which has a less changes then the bulletin is available on-line. It would also cut time into searching for tax law information.

Update: It is on-line at http://www.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/internalRevenueBulletins.html... more »

Eliminate IDRS CC TRPRT it is a waste of paper and time. I can not tell you how many times I have executed this command code and received a packet of information that I could get electronically.

IT security policy requires every employee to print and file a paper copy of every work-related email. Requiring on and off-site electronic back-ups of email files provides better security for the records and would save the government millions of dollars per year, as well as hugely reducing paper waste from government offices. The current policy is expensive, out-dated and as non-green as possible.

The United States should ask international organizations to which we belong to reduce significantly their reliance on mailing hard copy documents to send information to member countries. I would conservatively estimate that switching one document a week from hard copy to email could save the U.S. government thousands of dollars a week given the number of international organizations, the number of member countries in each... more »

Every office has a stack of unclaimed papers next to the printer. Costly and bad for the environment. A simple tool that counts print jobs for each user account can be used to keep wasteful printing under control. Managers can establish print targets for their workers that can be factored into performance evaluations.

I propose that our govt move into a new era where paper decisionmaking is a thing of the past. Technology exists where secure signatures and sharing networks can bring our offices up to the year 2011. We can reduce the burden on our forests and recycling centers! We can reduce the time it takes to get a document from one decisionmaker to another by using software that allows all decisionmakers to view and sign document... more »

If ordered in large volumes to replace existing cards and new cards, the paper to plastic migration would only be separated by pennies due the the millions being ordered.

The next generation card would last longer, and your parents and/or grand parents would not have to laminate them!

Newer security features could be incorporated to prevent replication (which can be achieved quite easily with the current paper card),... more »

Prior to working for the federal government, I spent approximately five (5) years employed in the private sector. A growing practice was the implementation of faxmail. The idea is simple: an individual is assigned a phone number, and when he/she receives a fax, it goes directly into his/her email inbox.

With the goal of creating a paperless work environment, the receipt of an electronic fax will create an instant savings... more »

Government contract files currently consume vast amounts of paper! There is no reason contract files are not almost exclusively electronic. A good first step would be to require all documents, including emails saved as PDF, be managed on the computer until contract award. At that time, the contract itself is the only document printed with original signatures; all other documents can be burned to CD/DVD and included... more »

Go the E-book way.

 

Than having the same hard bound reference book in every office, go electronic. Subscribe/pay for the group access and distribute the log-in info to all employees. The 'Physicians Desk Reference' and the Dictionaries comes to mind! How about Kindling it?