Partners for Environmental Progress (PEP) is a coalition of business and education leaders who share the vision of applying science-based environmental best practices to business and community issues.
Their members are concerned businesses – large and small – who value our unique natural resources and our economy. We understand that the future of our area depends on ensuring a balance between business development and job creation, industrial growth, and a healthy environment.
PEP promotes a balanced view of business and industry contributions to this area by providing factual information about safety and environmental performance. Through community involvement and this conciliatory approach, we strive to build a resilient Gulf Coast.
Actions
Join PEP
PEP’s 200+ members are concerned businesses, non-profits, and organizations – both large and small – who share the common purpose of promoting economic prosperity and environmental sustainability in the area. Our members represent the diversity of business and industry along the Gulf Coast.
Attend PEP Events
Membership to PEP gives you access to a number of events that bring community leaders together including Membership Breakfasts, Lunch & Learns, Annual Golf Invitational Tournament, Environmental Stewardship Awards Ceremony, Annual Meeting, and a Reverse Trade Show
Promote The Good You Are Doing
As a member of PEP, your company will receive important up-to-date information, and they will help tell your story to the Gulf Coast Community. Empower PEP to tell the community and your employees about your innovative environmental best practices and success stories. Receive updates on projects at local industrial sites and member company news and events. Be represented by our organization during community discussions about topics important to industry and business
Resources
Take the Trash Blows! Stow It! Pledge
We promise to do our part to reduce trash blowing out of truck beds by educating our employees about problems caused by loose trash blowing out of trucks. We promise to remind our employees to be aware of trash in the truck beds of our fleet of vehicles and encourage them to stow it in a receptacle before hitting the road. Together we can keep our local watersheds preserved for swimming, fishing and boating.
Sponsor an Oyster
The Oyster Trail began in Downtown Mobile during the summer of 2013 with six stops. It quickly spread to 12 downtown locations and then added to south Mobile County with stops in Bayou La Batre and Dauphin Island. By early 2014, The Trail had pushed across the Bay and now there are more than 20 oysters on the Trail with an additional six on the way. You can find Oyster Trail stops in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Spanish Fort, throughout Mobile County and soon in Foley and Fairhope.
By-Product Synergy Central Gulf Coast
In 2009, Partners for Environmental Progress (PEP) created a revolutionary program for businesses on the Gulf Coast: By-Product Synergy Central Gulf Coast (BPS). The program matches one company’s under-valued waste or by-product streams with potential users, helping to create new revenues or savings for the organizations while also addressing the social and environmental impacts to the Gulf Coast. Realizing the program’s unique potential, a diverse network of 12 local companies joined the program in its initial phase with astounding results. Phase Two has recently begun with additional participating companies.
Types of Pollution
When water rushes off hardened surfaces, erosion of sediments degrade water conditions and smother and disrupt seagrass growth and the habitat for benthic organisms they provide.
Compounds like oil, grease, and heavy metals take a long time to break down and threaten the health of both aquatic and human life.
Litter is not only unsightly, but it also causes a variety of problems to the ecosystem as it enters our waters where it is often is mistaken for food by fish and invertebrates.
Too much fertilizer, pet waste, and other nutrients in our water often lead to serious problems like lowering dissolved oxygen levels, preventing seagrass growth, and killing fish.
Disease-causing microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and other single-celled organisms, are referred to as pathogens, some, like Salmonella, cause human health problems.
While pesticides are designed to be toxic to certain organisms, they can often be harmful and kill other species in the marine system that are important for the entire ecosystem.