SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

The government spends thousands to millions of dollars making plastic IDs for their government employees each year. When these IDs expire or their beholder leaves his/her position, they are then tossed into the trashed and disposed as waste; waste destined to sit in a landfill. Why not recycle them? By making IDs out of recycled plastic and then recycling the IDs themselves after use, the government could not only increase... more »

Cancel by legislation and adminstative action, all subsidies to USEC. Eliminate the obvious subsidies, and the hidden ones, like sweetheart deals. USEC was supposed to be in the Private sector, not a continual drag on the body politic.

 

Don't make DOE the "bleeding horse" that keeps getting bled to keep USEC in good shape.

Currently, the U.S. government spends in excess of $1 billion annually to license software -- software that produces documents that are difficult to access after a few years because the new version of the software often doesn't work with the older documents. Since the document formats are proprietary, we have no way to access these documents other than by maintaining the unsupported older software. This has made transparency... more »

In today’s society the world is being run through different upgrades of technology. There’s an old saying that goes “To reach all, teach all.” The question was asked, how can we help DOE save money and energy across HQ. In order to do this we must start off with the individuals who know little about saving money and energy and move to the ones who know the most. The plans that we have developed are already well thought... more »

My idea can be enacted by the President in an hour. Have the entire Executive Branch streamline the procurement of Federal vehicles by limiting them to sedan models with a four cilinder engine only and light trucks limited to six cilinder engines only. Currently all American car manufacturers build fuel efficient vehicles with these features, even full size, 4x4 light trucks. Limiting procurement of vehicles to these... more »

We in Chicago are fortunate to be surrounded by many Federal buildings housing many different agencies. We were able to participate in an office supply trade with other agencies in the area. It's amazing what supplies some agencies provide. It was like a shopping spree!! Items our office had no use for or things which we had in abundance, (tablets, pens, staplers, etc.) were brought to the "shopping" area and added... more »

The Rollover Budget Initiative (RBI) would allow units to maintain their annual budgets without being penalized for not fully utilizing the last year’s budget. Any remaining money from a fiscal year would be the base amount for the next fiscal year, which will then have additional money added to meet the unit’s requested budget. For example, if a unit requests $10,000 and has $2,000 left over from the previous year, that... more »

My idea is to have one security clearance, or background check to cover all, or at least most agencies. For example right now a person can already have a Top-Secret clearance with the Department of Defense, and they would have to start a background investigation all over again if they were to apply with another agency, even if it’s only for a Secret clearance. They would have to fill out the same SF-86, the same eQip... more »

Require all federal agencies to turn in to Congress a one page document explaining what article(s) of the Constitution authorizes their existence. Eliminate those agencies that do not have clear and specific authorization in the Constitution.

The cost of training each and every employee is extremely high and I believe that there is a better, more cost efficient way of doing things. Currently, the Government sends each employee to their required training, paying for their flight, hotel and per diem. For a two week course, this can easily be $5000 per person. If there are 20 people in this class, then the cost is $100,000 plus the cost of the instructors... more »

Many times over the weekend at federal facilities the lights and computers remain on. The cost savings would be enormous if we can encourage people to shut the power off and get engineering to power down the central controlled electricity on unused floors.

We may be using Fluorescent light bulbs, but we should continue to alternate bulb use like we did prior to using Fluorescent light bulbs. We should keep some lights bulbs Off while others light bulbs are On (alternating bulbs). Thus still providing enough lighting to do the job while conserving Electricity; Reducing lighting where necessary.

Create DHS Ombudsman Office to deal with abuses of power that decrease efficiency. This office could address unprofessional behavior that is not criminal. The mandate of this office would be to champion employees who have tried to make improvements or changes to the workplace and have met with organizational resistance brought about by personal bias, laziness, or possibly by efforts made to cover incompetence or illegal... more »

This is something that should be implemented Sooner than later. Too often I see under achievers get automatic increases in their pay when they do not perform the basics of their job. This would save Billions and would also put the federal workforce on notice. Do you job or don’t get a raise.

Turn off computer monitors at night. Computer monitors can always be turned off at night. Computer upgrades can occur with monitor screens switched off. Leaving computer monitors on at all times is a huge waste of energy and dollars. It is completely unneccessary!! Let's save those dollars! Let's save that energy! It will also cut our greenhouse gas emissions!