The last time Dick Franyo was on national TV was practically a lifetime ago, back when he was an investment banker at a big firm talking about IPOs.

Yesterday, he found himself in the spotlight once again, sitting on a barstool at his Eastport restaurant, extolling the virtues of donating profits to environmental causes to a crew from NBC News.

"Is this the kind of thing where if you ask me a question and I blow it, I can try again?" a slightly nervous Mr. Franyo asked producer Christopher Scholl.

"Sure," Mr. Stoll replied. "This isn't live."

And with that, the two launched into a casual discussion of Mr. Franyo's restaurant - the Boatyard Bar & Grill - and why he donates 1.5 percent of his sales to environmental groups.

"I think it helps our business. We are a Chesapeake Bay, fishing and sailing kind of place," Mr. Franyo said as the camera rolled.

Later, photojournalist Gary Beall filmed the lunchtime scene at the Boatyard, one of the most popular eateries in Eastport.

Material from the Boatyard, as well as an interview with Chesapeake Bay Foundation President William C. Baker and footage from CBF's Bay Ridge headquarters, will be part of an upcoming segment on NBC news about the "One Percent for the Planet" movement.

One Percent for the Planet was started in 2001 by Yvon Chouinard, who founded the Patagonia clothing company. The concept is for businesses to give back to the earth as a means of compensation for the resources used. He calls it an "earth tax."

Mr. Franyo said he started giving away 1.5 percent as soon as he opened the Boatyard in 2002 after retiring from investment banking.

Mr. Franyo built his restaurant around themes of fishing, sailing and families enjoying the bay. Full of fishing and sailing memorabilia, the place is hopping on the day of the annual rockfish tournament, and it's a hangout for sailors who watch videos of the Annapolis Yacht Club's Wednesday night races.

The money raised through the Boatyard's 1.5 percent comittment goes to groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Coastal Conservation Association.

When Mr. Franyo read about the One Percent for the Planet program in a Patagonia catalog, he immediately signed on.

Even though the Boatyard is a small business in the grand scheme of things, Mr. Franyo said the restaurant contributes to environmental problems, ranging from runoff to using electricity from polluting power plants. It's the restaurant's ethical responsibility, he said, to make amends.

"A lot of 'one percenters' call it an 'earth tax.' I call it a restatement of our financial results to properly record an expense," Mr. Franyo said.

One Percent counts 235 current members, among them popular singer/songwriter Jack Johnson, who did the soundtrack for the new "Curious George" movie, which opened yesterday.

The Boatyard is the only Anne Arundel County business participating in One Percent, and one of only a handful in the state.

The segment featuring Boatyard and the bay foundation probably won't air for at least a week, Mr. Scholl said.

For information, visit www.onepercentfortheplanet.org.

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Published February 11, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.