Environment

Environmental Sustainability - Rotary’s 7th Area of Focus
In June 2020 Rotary International added “Supporting the Environment” as its own area of focus. The environmental links with the other 6 areas of focus are as follows:  Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention: Sustainably and equitably managing natural resources to address the root causes of conflict and war to increase peace.  Disease Prevention and Treatment: What’s good for the planet is good for us – a healthy environment and access to clean energy helps prevent diseases.  Water, sanitation and hygiene: Extreme weather events are on the rise as our earth changes, and better locally directed resource management can reverse desertification, detoxify water, and mitigate against flooding and drought. Maternal and child health: Clean air, clean water and sufficient food have a significant impact on the health of mothers and children.  Basic education and literacy: Healthy children in peaceful environments have increased social stability and are better able to benefit from education and literacy programmes.  Community economic development: Environmental sustainability supports local economies and community development for long term job creation.

Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group (ESRAG) Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group (ESRAG) assists Rotary clubs, districts and multi-districts in planning, implementing and evaluating service projects, building awareness, and inspiring action. These projects promote environmental sustainability, awareness of climate change, and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate climate disruption. ESRAG promotes educational resources, initiates dialogue about environmental sustainability, and uses best practices in models and assessments for both projects and daily choices. This work advances the Object of Rotary through positive impacts in all six Areas of Focus. ESRAG was instrumental in having “Supporting the Environment” as Rotary’s 7th area of focus. Reducing Plastic Usage End Plastic Soup: The End Plastic Soup initiative was founded in 2018 by Rotary Clubs in Amsterdam and is now supported worldwide. The goal is to ban plastic waste from our environment by 2050 through targeted campaigns, awareness raising and alliances with other partners. When you hear stats that by 2050 virtually every marine bird species in the world will eat plastic and that 73% of the world’s litter on beaches is plastic waste, we knew as a club we wanted to support this initiative. Tips to reduce your plastic usage(from Maidenhead Rotary)

Climate ChangeSchools Climate Change Poster Competition: In August 2021, our ES leads were judges in a Rotary Climate change poster competition, along with the ES lead for Maidenhead Thames. There were 11 submissions from 6 schools in RBWM. There was some amazing talent, with very inspiring posters. The top prize was won with the theme “Human Change not Climate Change”, with an original drawing of an egg timer. Second prize was “Climate Change – good and bad”. Third prize was a mind map of “mitigating against climate change”. There was also a commendation for the simple message ‘Stop climate change, plant trees!’ – it displayed a great image of globe burning on a roasting stick over a fire. The winning entry went direct to the National competition as there is no District competition so it may have ended up being displayed at COP26! Book and Media Recommendations Book recommendations: The Ethical Traveller – Smith Street Books — Imogen Lepere (imogenleperewriter.com) There Is No Planet B : A Handbook for the Make or Break Years - Updated Edition: Mike (Lancaster University) Berners-Lee: 9781108821575: (www.hive.co.uk) Media recommendations: BBC Radio 5 Live - The Big Green Money Show - Available now (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00152bx/episodes/player

 Talks on Environmental SustainabilityMaria Evans – RBWM Climate Emergency Coalition: “Eat less meat and change to a renewable energy tariff”. These are two things that we can do right now to help tackle the climate emergency, according to Maria Evans, a volunteer with the RBWM Climate Emergency Coalition, who gave our very first environmental talk. The first half of her talk was very sobering, as we heard how increased burning and cutting down of trees causes release of more CO2. She outlined the effects that melting ice and rising seas will have on people who are already poor. Millions of people are currently displaced. Scarce resources lead to competition and potentially to conflict, creating more refugees. Many animals and plants have become extinct with loss of their habitats. But each of us could make a difference with our actions and behaviour. Nelly Semaille: Nelly talked to us about the zero waste shop Filling Good in Maidenhead. She first gave us an overview of how much waste is produced in our society at present – not just plastic but also paper. One way to reduce this is to reuse your own containers. At Filling Good, you can refill your own jars, bottles, reusable bags or whatever container you choose, with everything from muesli and pasta, to dried fruit and mixed herbs. There are also big containers of cleaning products, and lots of plastic free items like coconut pan scourers. They have bread baked in Maidenhead and locally produced honey, among other food items. Having a zero waste shop so close to home has reduced the plastic entering our house dramatically -and the ethically produced chocolate is delicious! Zoe McAvoy – Green Up Our Street: Zoe Macavoy gave an inspiring talk, about the Green Up Our Street initiative. This encourages people to discuss with their neighbours how they, as a community, can make their local area “greener”, as urban green spaces are increasingly being used for other things like housebuilding, and hard standing for parking. Pilot projects in Windsor range from planting a couple of cherry trees to a community orchard! As well as planting trees, urban greening can include things like wildflower verges, gardens that help to improve biodiversity and bird boxes. There is much more at her website – the resources page has loads of ideas and advice       

Climate ChangeSchools Climate Change Poster Competition: In August 2021, our ES leads were judges in a Rotary Climate change poster competition, along with the ES lead for Maidenhead Thames. There were 11 submissions from 6 schools in RBWM. There was some amazing talent, with very inspiring posters. The top prize was won with the theme “Human Change not Climate Change”, with an original drawing of an egg timer. Second prize was “Climate Change – good and bad”. Third prize was a mind map of “mitigating against climate change”. There was also a commendation for the simple message ‘Stop climate change, plant trees!’ – it displayed a great image of globe burning on a roasting stick over a fire. The winning entry went direct to the National competition as there is no District competition so it may have ended up being displayed at COP26! Book and Media Recommendations Book recommendations: The Ethical Traveller – Smith Street Books — Imogen Lepere (imogenleperewriter.com) There Is No Planet B : A Handbook for the Make or Break Years - Updated Edition: Mike (Lancaster University) Berners-Lee: 9781108821575: (www.hive.co.uk) Media recommendations: BBC Radio 5 Live - The Big Green Money Show - Available now (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00152bx/episodes/player

 Talks on Environmental Sustainability
Maria Evans – RBWM Climate Emergency Coalition: “Eat less meat and change to a renewable energy tariff”. These are two things that we can do right now to help tackle the climate emergency, according to Maria Evans, a volunteer with the RBWM Climate Emergency Coalition, who gave our very first environmental talk. The first half of her talk was very sobering, as we heard how increased burning and cutting down of trees causes release of more CO2. She outlined the effects that melting ice and rising seas will have on people who are already poor. Millions of people are currently displaced. Scarce resources lead to competition and potentially to conflict, creating more refugees. Many animals and plants have become extinct with loss of their habitats. But each of us could make a difference with our actions and behaviour. She first gave us an overview of how much waste is produced in our society at present – not just plastic but also paper. One way to reduce this is to reuse your own containers. At Filling Good, you can refill your own jars, bottles, reusable bags or whatever container you choose, with everything from muesli and pasta, to dried fruit and mixed herbs. There are also big containers of cleaning products, and lots of plastic free items like coconut pan scourers. They have bread baked in Maidenhead and locally produced honey, among other food items. Having a zero waste shop so close to home has reduced the plastic entering our house dramatically -and the ethically produced chocolate is delicious! Zoe McAvoy – Green Up Our Street: Zoe Macavoy gave an inspiring talk, about the Green Up Our Street initiative. This encourages people to discuss with their neighbours how they, as a community, can make their local area “greener”, as urban green spaces are increasingly being used for other things like housebuilding, and hard standing for parking. Pilot projects in Windsor range from planting a couple of cherry trees to a community orchard! As well as planting trees, urban greening can include things like wildflower verges, gardens that help to improve biodiversity and bird boxes. There is much more at her website – the resources page has loads of ideas and advice       So if you ever wondered if you could really make a difference...join Rotary and you can!