Award for Excellence in Environmental Stewardship, Northeast 2018

Awarded to: BEG Group

Judges Comments

“The product shows clear advantages when compared to the alternatives. I also like that BEG Group went out and got detailed, credible testimonials from significant companies.”

“From personal experience I know that both Bechtel & Jacobs are using the product and think very highly of it, which is also confirmed in the entry.”

Corporate Overview

BEG Group’s biobased/biopreferred erosion/filtration medium Big Switch™ is a flexible mesh sock filled with switchgrass that retains sediment and pollutants so cleaned water can flow through. Use it in place of silt fence, straw bale barrier, wood chip or mulch socks known for being detrimental to the environment.

Big Switch™ also:

•  doesn’t require trenching or disturbing the soil surface

•  is lightweight, so it’s ergonomic, easier to install and less expensive to ship

•  has a wider contact surface area

•  greatly reduces tannic acids, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds such as arsenic

•  does not need to be removed – decomposes naturally

Big Switch™ is listed on the approved Best Management Practice list on Pa DEP’s website – Alternate E&S and PCSM BMP’s. Therefore, this product has been approved for use on PennDOT projects as a Pub 408, Section 106.02(a)2.c, Project Specific Locally Approved Material.

“We applaud BEG Group for earning the 100% USDA Certified Biobased Product label, contributing to an ever-expanding marketplace that adds value to renewable agriculture commodities and creates jobs in rural communities.” – Kate Lewis, USDA BioPreferred Program.

Big Switch™ is the 2017 national Environmental Protection Product of the Year award winner for groundwater and soil.

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