The H2O Initiative Gives Back.

The H2O Initiative is a community outreach program established by CBRC to advocate our give-back message. Through our H2O Initiative, we are pledging 2% of gross sales on every product we sell to go back in support of community organizations and groups that are helping make a measurable impact to the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The H2O Initiative mark will be used in conjunction with all packaging, promotion and sponsorships by CBRC to help raise consumer awareness about our commitment to the bay.

CBRC is devoted to preserving the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by means of working hand in hand with Grass-Roots organizations like the South River Federation who has been dedicated to restoring the natural habitat of South River and surrounding wetlands. Projects like shoreline reconstruction, stream clean-ups and educational workshops make such significant impact within the community.

Our friends over at the South River Federation are setting a great example for the rest of us throughout the watershed on how to achieve results. We have our work cut out for us but who's to say that we cannot have fun in the process.

Did you know that the Chesapeake Bay Watershed extends throughout six states (Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York)? It's hard to believe that our watershed's reach extends that far but the health of our bay effects nearly 16.6 million people according to the the U.S. Geological Survey scientists with the Chesapeake Bay Program. That is a tremendous amount people and still growing. In fact, the population in this region is projected to top 18 million by 2020. More people means potentially more development and more waste to an already fragile eco-system. This doesn't mean that we oppose growth and prosperity in the region by any means. We just know in our hearts that if more people businesses were better informed, if more people made small changes in their daily lives, we can stabilize and rejuvenate the health our our regional treasure, the majestic Chesapeake Bay.

How can we help? What steps can we take as a business and as individuals?

We have asked ourselves these questions all to often and as time goes on the answers to these questions continuously evolves. The growing changes of our business are driven by a variety of factors but the two most substantial ones are probably economic and practicality. In fact, these two factors are probably the quintessential motivators in our decision making tree when we opt to implement new technologies and/or new business practices that will effect our company's direction or workflow. However, the most essential and critical aspect we take into consideration prior to making a decision is based upon asking ourselves' this question, "What can we do to help?".

Yeah, we know that may seem simple enough but seldom do we find individuals out there, let alone companies, that are putting others first or in our case, the environment first. We have made this pledge the cornerstone of our business strategy and quite honestly this is something that we do not take lightly.

The answer to the first question consists of a multi prong approach that we have opted to take to help but it starts with a simple answer, GET INVOLVED. We take great pride in the events and sponsorships that we take part in annually. Some new and some old, we are committed to aligning our company with community groups and organizations that are concerned about the health our bay.