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Maryland Department of the Environment

Maryland Green Registry Reaches 500th Member

Media Contact:
Mark Shaffer
410-537-3056
mark.shaffer1@maryland.gov

 

Maryland Green Registry Reaches 500th Member

Voluntary Program Encourages Businesses to Reduce Environmental Impact

BALTIMORE, MD (March 13, 2018) – The Maryland Department of Environment today announced that the Maryland Green Registry program recently passed an important milestone with the addition of the Chesapeake Brewing Company as its 500th member. The Maryland Green Registry was created in 2009 to encourage businesses and organizations to reduce their environmental impacts by agreeing to go beyond laws that protect the state’s environment.

“This is an important milestone for the Maryland Green Registry program, which is gaining steam and growing partners,” said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles. “Green Registry members do tremendous work in protecting our state’s air, land, and water. They have also saved millions of dollars through sustainable practices like energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste reduction.”

Collectively, participating businesses are saving about $104 million annually through enhanced sustainable practices including reducing electrical usage by 459 million kWh annually; conserving more than 190 million gallons of water; and reducing 13 million pounds of waste through more efficient processes.

The registry, which is a voluntary program, offers tips and resources for greening facilities through implementing environmental best practices as well as the opportunity to share environmental successes with others. Members receive information, technical support, and invitations to upcoming webinars and conferences. There is no cost to join.

Each year, the Maryland Green Registry Leadership Awards are presented to five member organizations that have shown a strong commitment to sustainable practices, measurable results, and continual improvement. The winners represent a variety of facility types and sizes, but all have the same key factors that contribute to their success: a commitment to continual improvement of environmental performance, an active green team, annual environmental goals and tracking, and measurement of results.

For more information about the Maryland Green Registry, please click http://mde.maryland.gov/MarylandGreen/Pages/home.aspx or contact the program coordinator, Laura Armstrong, at laura.armstrong@maryland.gov. This year’s Leadership Awards applications will be posted to the website on April 1 and will be due by April 30.

The Chesapeake Brewing Company, a downtown Annapolis brew pub and restaurant, has been a leader in community environmental projects, including hosting Earth Day events, an annual beer festival to support alternative transportation and trail cleanups, and working with farmers to increase their green canopies. Chesapeake Brewing has reduced its environmental footprint by recycling plastics, paper, cardboard, electronics and oyster shells, cutting down paper usage by using electronic receipts, using energy-efficient LED bulbs, and collecting rain water to water plants.

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