BALTIMORE, MD (September 25, 2003) – Acting Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Secretary Kendl P. Philbrick will present the annual Businesses for the Bay Awards at 2 p.m., Oct. 1 at the National Wildlife Visitor Center - Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel. The awards recognize small, medium and large businesses as well as government facilities that have successfully implemented pollution prevention projects in 2002. The Acting Secretary will also recognize 11 Maryland manufacturers that have completed an Environmental Management System Implementation Program sponsored by MDE and Maryland Technology Extension Service.

The awards ceremony will be among the highlights of the Businesses for the Bay Annual Meeting. Paul Hawken, a world-renowned sustainability expert and author of “National Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution,” will round out the daylong event as a featured speaker.

Businesses for the Bay is a voluntary program that encourages and recognizes pollution prevention practices at businesses, government facilities and other organizations located within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Pollution prevention, or P2, is an environmental management approach that aims to reduce or eliminate waste prior to recycling, treatment or disposal. P2 practices also include the increased efficiency of the use of raw materials, energy and water.

More than 500 organizations throughout the watershed are participating members in Businesses for the Bay. Since the program's inception in 1996, program participants throughout the watershed have reported the reduction and recycling of 5.8 billion pounds of waste and materials at a cost savings of $54 million. These wastes ranged from specific chemicals to air emissions and solid waste.

For more information or to register for the Businesses for the Bay Annual Meeting, go to www.b4bay.org or call 1-800-968-7229, ext. 719.

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