Category Archives: Protecting the environment

Rotary delegates attend Climate Change conference

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By Judith Diment, Dean, Rotary Representatives Network to the UN and International Agencies

I was delighted to have the chance to lead the Rotary delegation to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, COP27, in Egypt in November. It’s a privilege that came my way as dean of the Rotary Representative Network to the United Nations and International Agencies. The worldwide climate change conference is held every year by the UN, this year attended by more than 100 country delegations and 1,600 IGOs and NGOs. After 13 days of intense negotiations, the attendees reached some truly consequential agreements. It was a real thrill to see.

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Club turns masks to bricks

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Dhaka Orchid clean earth project
The Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchid has been collecting and cleaning used masks and gloves to mix with cement and create new products from the waste.

By Abdullah Al Fahad, Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchid, Bangladesh

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with a new environmental challenge. Every month, more than 120 billion disposable masks and gloves are being thrown out, with some of them polluting our land and water.

Our Rotaract club, like many, is concerned about the environment. Emboldened by Rotary’s newest cause, protecting the environment, we decided to do something about this problem. We began a recycling effort which we called our Clean Earth project to collect masks that were littering our streets, parking lots, and other common areas and find a way to reuse them.

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Going upstream to reverse the effects of river pollution

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Joe Otin

By Joe Otin, past district governor of Rotary District 9212 (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan)

It’s no wonder that rivers have a special place in art, music, and legend. The founders of mighty cities secured foundations mostly where the life blood of mother nature offered a continuous supply of refreshment. Primitive societies worshiped rivers for the same reason –  they brought a pure supply of the mountain’s offering and booked unwanted waste on a free ride out of town.

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Planting seeds of motivation to support the environment

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Members of the Rotaract Club of Nürtingen, Germany, plant trees in a cleared area last spring.

Dominik Huhndorf

By Dominik Huhndorf, vice president of the Rotaract Club of Nürtingen, Germany

My Rotaract club established a project, Treety of Generations, to motivate clubs around the world to plant trees in cleared areas. In doing so, we show the power of working with Rotary.

We began by finding two partner clubs on different continents who were as passionate about the environment as we were: The Rotaract Club Cumbayá, Ecuador, and Club MOP Vaishnav, India. With this strong alliance, we launched a pilot project. Continue reading →

Coming to the rescue of bees

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Huge bee sculpture

Dieter Erhard sculpted a huge bee to draw attention to the plight of bees and the BeeAlive project.

By Gundula Miethke

Every year Rotaract clubs throughout Germany look for a common initiative to participate in on a country-wide basis to demonstrate their commitment to social action. This effort includes hands-on activities, lectures, and public awareness around a single issue. This year, that issue centered on an environmental theme, protecting wild bees.

A Swiss documentary “More than Honey” left a lasting impression on one Rotaractor, who convinced other Rotaract and Rotary members about the menacing problem that these little superheroes find themselves in, one that impacts us as humans as well. The hard-working wild bees are responsible for pollinating more than 75 percent of our crops and wild plants. If they die out, we cannot survive either. Continue reading →