SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

I am new to the government and was shocked to find out that I will have my own printer on my desk. This is a totally unnecessary cost to the taxpayers. Not only does it encourage excess printing using paper and ink since it is so "convenient", but it discourages healthy movement by employees by asking them to get up out of their chairs to retrieve something they printed. Providing a printer to every employee is not a... more »

The removal of printers from offices would force employees to find new more efficient ways to communicate. The savings from paper and toners could be used to provide ways for those without internet access to get information.

You can reduce the amount of printers that are used throughout the Federal Government. I see people complain because they have to walk 10ft to get a printed document. Some will use the excuse that nobody can see what I am printing. To resolve that would be to purchase larger copiers that require codes to be used for each employee to print. This will reduce the TCO and should see an immediate ROI. It will reduce paper... more »

Not all fonts use the same amount of ink. Using certain fonts can result in up to 31% savings when printing many routine memos, outlines, and other "non-presentation quality" correspondence, compared to other, "standard" fonts.
Having IT personnel switch to ink-sparing fonts on a default basis could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in notoriously expensive printer ink and toner cartridges. [At inflated retail GSA... more »

Eliminate printing and signing word documents by using the ApproveIt add-in across the DOD. I believe the Army has already implemented this, but not the other services. The ApproveIt add-in allows a CAC enabled signature on MS Word docs, rather than just the picture embedded that is inherint to MS Word. By using this add-in, signatures can be verified, can't be falsified and documents can be digitally signed vs printed... more »

In 2010, The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - Florida District completed approximately 929 Domestic Inspections. The copying and distribution of these reports and exhibits were completed by technicians and required approximately 3716 man hours, 1,114,800 ($7300.00) pieces of paper , 550 toner cartages, use of limited filing space, and UPS shipping charges based on weight. Instead, these reports and exhibits could... more »

The US Government wastes millions of dollars on unnecessary printing by Federal employees. Not only are paper, toner, and printer maintenance expensive, but storage, destruction, and time searching through hard-copies costs money.

We need to use the print servers to track and report usage by user/branch/department/command. By shining a light on current and historical usage, users will adjust their habits and save money.... more »

Most desktops here at my office and six other office I provide I.T. services to have personal printers assigned to them when there is a network printer two cubes down. When adding up costs for toner and color cartridges across all agencies this amounts to an incredible amount of money. Costs associated:

1. Lump sum of printer cost ranging $50 to $500

2. Toner or printer cartridge cost ranging $45 to $150

3. Depreciation... more »

Several Venders offer up to $2 per recycled toner cartridge. In my group alone, there is a box with approximately $200 worth of cartridges that will be given away.

Significantly reduce costs for copiers and printers (including toner). Some Agency’s program offices purchase about $25,000 in toner cartridges each and every month. Sometimes this is approximately half of all the supply store purchases. Replace network printers with leased, multifunctional devices. These multifunctional devices provide the same, if not better, performance. In addition to scanning and faxing, they... more »