Current Activities
Plans for the coming Rotary year will be published shortly.
Highlights 2022-2023
Chair: PP PHF Vicki Van Den Bergen – Environment & Sustainability Chair
Team: Roy Bowyer, PP PHFJohn Shaw, Pres. Elect. Sangeeta Bajaj, PP PHF Kerry Champness and Pres. PP PHF Marcus Adams
We have achieved quite a lot this year and began by conducting an Environmental Sustainability Survey of our members to gauge the level of support for this area of focus, as what we would be able to achieve would depend on this. 2/3 of the members responded, which was good but fewer than we had hoped for.
No respondent said they were not interested, and over half of the respondents said they were very interested in environmental issues. Climate change, responsible consumption and waste disposal and maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance were the most concerning issues.
Local community-based issues were the most popular, and hands-on activities and fundraising preferred.
Data from a Club meeting in October were collected for the “Input Collection Form” of the ESRAG Rotary Club Carbon Calculator for Oceania, which was used to measure the CO2 emissions our Club’s weekly meetings generated.
The Calculator also gave ideas where emission reduction could be achieved. The reports showed that for 40 meetings the emissions worked out at 4,554Kg. CO2. We were congratulated for deciding to calculate our Club emissions. By the end of the year we hoped to find a way to offset these.
In February, we finally found a collection point for plastic lids which have a 2 or 4 in the triangle from milk and soft-drink bottles, and bread tags that our members and their contacts have been saving up throughout the year. A large bag of plastic bottle tops and bread tags were dropped off at the City of Greater Dandenong Council, which are passed on to Lids4Kids where they are manufactured into free children’s play equipment etc. The bread tags are used to produce wheelchairs.
We collaborated with Johns Hill Landcare Group Inc. Emerald and Scout Leader Jeff Latter of First Emerald Scouts, friends of Rotary and family-members in a Clean-Up Australia Day event on 19th March, to clean up Hogan Park and around the township. Jenny Lyndon President of JHLG Inc. was happy that Rotary is prioritising Environment and Sustainability, and hopeful that the CUAD activity might be the first of many joint ventures between JHLG and Emerald Rotary.
The event was very well-supported by our members and a free BBQ followed. The event was well-publicised in the media thanks to the efforts of Shalini Penny, Jenny Lyndon and Kris Ash. We greatly appreciated the support from Justin Barrot of Barry Plant for promotion of the event with billboards and flyers, and from Alan from Emerald Village Meats for his very generous donation of the BBQ sausages.
In May, as a way of celebrating World Environment Day (WED), we asked members to undertake a more extensive collection of items that cannot go into the kerbside recycling bin and save them from landfill.
Started by the United Nations in 1974, WED is an international day of environmental awareness and action that happens on the 5th June annually; it is the People's Day for doing something to take care of the Earth, whether it be something small or a local, large-scale event.
I joined Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG) in October which gave me access to meetings, newsletters and other sources of information such as Project Drawdown on YouTube, which provides excellent insight into the environmental challenges we face and the solutions.
I attended various seminars including:
- the Future Vehicle Expo’ in October at Manningham Civic Centre along with Committee member Roy and Ali Bowyer and Susi and Jonas Wilson.
The seminars were: “Electric vehicles – how they work and how will I charge?” and “How can we travel more sustainably and easier?” which included “Smart technology in our cars – how can it improve safety?”
- Rotary’s Role in Ending Plastic Waste in November presented by ESRAG's Plastics Solutions Task Force members.
- an ESRAG Oceania Meeting via Zoom with guest speaker Steve Lyon, a member of the Rotary Club of Rarotonga and District 9920's Environment Co-Chair, and the founder in 2009 of the Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative (PICI) based in the Cook Islands. A marine biologist and qualified diver, Steve spoke of the urgent need for climate action for the Pacific Islands and their environment.
- the ESRAG Action Summit on 25th May
- the ESRAG Display at the House of Friendship at the Rotary International Convention Melbourne 27th – 31st May.
A suitable project for offsetting our Club’s CO2 emissions should be found there, or a donation to Planet Ark’s Seedling Bank to support community-led environmental projects across Australia could be made.
By educating ourselves, our Committee is better able to raise members’ awareness of environmental issues at meetings when appropriate.
Thank you to my team Roy, John Shaw, Sangeeta Bajaj and Kerry Champness, President Marcus and the Board and our members for all of their support this year.
Allan Douglas