Imagine printing out an unnecessary extra page every time you print a
two-page document, and then having someone else pay for it. In so many
words, this process describes the extent of waste involved in federal
government printing. According to a study released by Lexmark
International, $440.4 million of the annual $1.3 billion spent on government printing costs is wasteful.
As descriptions of government spending increasingly mention
“trillion,” a mere $440 million seems trivial. However, unlike
controversial spending such as TARP money, stimulus packages or auto
bailouts, this waste is indefensible even to federal employees.
According to the study, 92 percent admit they do not need all of the
documents they print in a day. Furthermore, employees discard 35
percent of printed pages in the same day.
The results from Lexmark indicate a two-part problem. Chiefly,
accountability operates at a bare minimum. Only 11 percent of agencies
have policies in place dictating when to print. Fewer than 10 percent
of agencies have automatic double-sided printing, and just 5 percent
require personal codes to print.
These numbers are shamefully low, considering how easy cost saving procedures are to implement.
Double-sided printing can be converted to the default setting at the
click of a button on most printers. Colleges and universities across the country employ
personal codes for students, faculty, and staff to easily access
printers at the library or office.
Clearly, this lack of
individual accountability leads to lack of restraint. Over 60 percent of employees
admitted to printing “significantly more” while working in the office
compared to working at home. There may be no such thing as a free
lunch, but federal employees seem to believe in free printing.
While elevating accountability standards constitutes a first step,
the study reveals a more complex technological challenge. Employees
continue to prefer paper to digital copies - and we aren't just talking about your old-school boss who just never got the hang of the computer. Negligible differences
were found among the Baby Boom, Gen X, and Gen Y age groups.
Over two-thirds of
those surveyed acknowledged a heavy reliance on paper trails, and 41
percent preferred hard copy to on-screen editing. In addition to
increased accountability, a conscious effort to introduce digital
editing and storage needs to be made. Programs such as GoogleDocs or
WebNotes need to be explored and efficiently used.
If the government truly intends to go green, agency and department
heads must not dismiss these findings, but interpret them as a mandate
for innovation. Luckily, Lexmark has made its insightful study
available online. Let's all read it there and avoid the urge to print it out.
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