Save Award 2010 Department of the Interior

Every year it seems that all agencies spend 100% of their annual budget. Managers feel that, if they don't spend it all, the following year's budget will be reduced. We need to reward managers that operate under budget and assure them that their next years budget will not be reduced. They may even get more than budgeted based on how much they saved in the previous years. That will stop offices, agencies and organizations... more »

Require a minimum percentage of GSA fleet vehicles per agency/department/bureau to be hybrid vehicles. Often inefficient trucks are used for errands and trips where a hybrid would more appropriate. Fuel savings increase significantly as our consumption and footprint decrease.

Given the substantial costs associated with long-distance travel (salaries in transit, airport shuttles, lodging, M&IE, airfares, paperwork preparation, etc.)--as well as the considerable environmental impacts of flying (http://www.ecologycenter.org/factsheets/travel_tips.html)--I would like to suggest that the coordinator of EVERY SINGLE meeting to which one or more Federal employees are authorized to travel be REQUIRED... more »

Increase the micro-purchase limit, which is currently $3000. Even a modest increase to $5000 would improve government employees ability to conduct work efficiently since it would dramatically reduce the number of purchases that are subject to time consuming and therefore costly procurement procedures.

Currently federal employees are only allowed to carry over 240 hours of annual leave each year. Anything above this is considered "use or lose." Of course for the employee it is an easy decision it is better for them to use the leave (or they can donate it through the leave share program), which is fine, but what if there was another option? I propose that federal employees should have the option of donating the monetary... more »

My agency uses Lotus notes for email, which is a clunky system and has a terrible web-interface that makes it ineffective to use away from the office. We should adopt a system like gmail or hotmail. This would greatly improve employee productivity, and make archiving and searching records more effective.

In existing buildings where more than sufficient lighting exists, rotate half of the bulbs in each overhead fixture by 45 degrees to deactivate them. That could save up to 50% of electricity used for overhead lighting with no upfront retrofit investment. Many areas I work in are far too brightly lit. The excess lighting is often visually uncomfortable and a gross waste of energy.

It is my suggestion that the Bureau of Indian Affairs Correctional Division adopt a computerized Inmate management and tracking system, at the current time Correctional Officers spend an inordinate amount of time processing and filling booking and release paperwork. The current hard copy system although adequate some time ago no longer meets the needs of present day Corrections or Law Enforcement Officers.
Our current... more »

The government could save millions of dollars annually when government employees travel by making non refundable airline tickets easier to purchase. For most travel, purchased airline tickets associated with travel are extremely unlikely to be canceled (the "advantage of the refundable ticket"). For example the USGS-CRU recently held a meeting in New Orleans, attended by ~200 people. The non refundable ticket cost... more »

I think It should be easier to fire permenant employees. I see a lot of fat that could be trimmed. Some of these perms do nothing all day or personal work on the gov dime and they know that they can not get fired.

The trash cans within our individual office and cubicle space as well as the restrooms should be replaced with recycle receptacles. The trash receptacles can be relocated to a common area (generally where the community recycle area currently resides) and instead of daily or every other day office/cubicle trash pick-up, we have office/cubicle recycle pick-up. This will promote more recycling and force folks to physically... more »

I suggest you create an incentive program for traveling government employees to lodge at cheaper hotels in order to decrease travel expenses. I envision the incentive program being based on the amount that the lodging expense is under the maximum lodging rate. For example, The maximum lodging per diem rate in Pittsburgh is $119. At this time, a federal employee could stay at a Red Roof Inn for $62.99 per night. If the... more »

One of the daily expenses for the government is the money spent on printing supplies, especially ink. The use of special printing fonts could save an estimated 25% on the use of ink for laser and inkjet printers. Through government-wide implementation of software (such as ecofont http://www.ecofont.com/en/products/green/printing/saving-printing-costs-and-eco-friendly/why-ecofont-saves-more-ink-than-century-gothic.html)... more »

Offer early out retirements to persons age 50 plus and 25 years plus of service. Will save money and also allow new people to get into the work force.

Instead of paying (multiple?) contract companies to handle password resets for the multiple systems we work with (e.g. govtrip, BASIS+, agency network, Lotus notes email), establish a secure website that requires our employee ID cards (smart card) and associated PIN where we can go to remind us what our password is -or to request an automatic reset, which would be the former password with a random number added at the... more »