Rotary Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup
Mobilizing Rotarians, Rotaractors and community partners in one of the largest volunteer undertakings by Rotary International to support a clean environment!
Earth Day 2021
April 22, 2021 is Earth Day!
Since it was established in 1905, Rotary International has had six areas of focus:
1) Promoting peace; 2) Fighting disease; 3) Providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene; 4) Saving mothers and children; 5) Supporting education; and 6) Growing local economies. Source: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes
This year, officially launching in July, Rotary is adding a seventh area of focus: Protecting the environment.
This initiative is also being promoted by District 7090 as part of it’s Healthy Communities Initiative.
The Great Lakes Watershed
The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup initiative is an effort that has grown from a District 7090 service project covering a small portion of Lake Ontario and Erie to a multi-district plan to focus Rotarians’ attention to all 5 of the Great Lakes and streams and waterways feeding them. Our goal is to make this the single largest cleanup event ever planned and coinciding with Earth Day 2021 on the Great Lakes Watershed. The Great Lakes contains almost 20% of the world’s fresh water and is arguably the largest source of fresh water on the planet. It borders 8 States and 2 Provinces and has 9,577 miles (15,323 kilometers) of shoreline. So far 15 Districts, 100’s of Clubs and thousands of Rotary volunteers have agreed to participate. We will be joining over one billion people worldwide working on projects together in their communities on Earth Day.
Trash, plastics and other littered items plague our waterways. This trash posses a threat to terrestrial and aquatic life, often becomes microplastics and harmful toxins and pollutes one of the most precious and limited natural resources. Shopping carts, tires, furniture, trash, foam cups, plastic containers and aluminum cans contaminate our waterways and greenways. More than 22 million pounds (48.4 million kilograms) of trash and plastic pollution ends up in the Great Lakes each year.
Cleanups from numerous NGO’s, community groups and individual volunteers are critical to reducing the amount of garbage that collects in our watersheds each year. In order to track our success, the second goal will be to tabulate the amount of debris collected from each of the individual cleanup events. And the final and most important goal will be to educate the public to the importance of protecting our waterways and to instil a sense of stewardship towards our Great Lakes.
The deadline for completion of Great Lakes Watershed events is being extended from Saturday April 24th to Tuesday June 1st.
This collaborative work project has generated much excitement and enthusiasm among the planners and is reflective of the upcoming addition of The Environment as a new area of focus of Rotary International. It also reflects our desire to be People of Action and to promote the good work of Rotary.
Rotary in the Great Lakes Watershed
The Great Lakes Watershed spans 2 Provinces, 8 States. There will be involvement from 18 Districts in Canada and the USA, approximately 900 clubs and 27,000 Rotarians and Rotaractors! Rotary and Rotaract Clubs across the Watershed are coordinating and organizing events to support this initiative.
Rotary/Rotaract Objectives
- Improve the aesthetics of the Great Lakes by removing garbage from public areas and roadsides.
- Reduce the amount of plastic and litter on our lands and in our waterways.
- Remove waste that could potentially be ingested by pets and other wildlife.
- Provide an opportunity for public participation in collaborative activities.
- Educate the public about the effects of littering, the importance of recycling and to instil a sense of stewardship.
- Collect and report back to organizers cleanup metrics to track the impacts of all the cleanups.
Links
- Volunteer or partner with your local Rotary Club
info@niagaraonthelakerotary.ca
- Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/814977885733650
- Rotary District 7090 GLWC Information Page
https://rotary7090.org/Stories/great-lakes-watershed-cleanup
- District 7090 Healthy Communities Initiative.
https://rotary7090.org/sitepage/healthy-communities-initiative
Patricia Murenbeeld, Rotary Club of Niagara On the Lake- President elect, New Generations Chair, District 7090 Vice Chair Northern Europe Youth Exchange.
Join Robert Fahlman, as he tells us about his work on behalf of the World Bank, delving into Elephant Crime Intelligence, in the context of wildlife conservaton and protection. Success in meeting this mission required a professional criminal intelligence capacity targeting high level global crime groups, their multi-sectoral networks, and their illicit operations.
"Saving wildlife and wilderness is the responsibility of all thinking people. Greed and personal gain must not be permitted to decimate, despoil and destroy the earth's irreplaceable treasure for its existence is essential to the human spirit and well-being of the earth as a whole. All life has just one home-the earth-and we as the dominant species must take care of it." Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick
(For further reading please find attached his report to the World Bank)
- District Web Talks They will be monthly, the last Tuesday of each month. The full schedule is at https://rotary7090.org/
page/district-calendar-of- events/ - District Newsletter at : https://rotary7090.org/
bulletin/View/e4dddfad-1fbc- 429d-be53-dc7fef4f6e5a - District Conference Monday, March 15 (7 to 9 PM), ️Tuesday, March 16 (7 to 9PM), ️Thursday, March 18 (7 to 9 PM),Saturday, March 20 (9AM to 12PM Virtual Meeting Register starting Feb 5 at https://rotary7090.org/
event/district-conference- 2020/ - Rotary Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup Saturday April17-Saturday April 24
- District Assembly (aka Club Leadership Training) Saturday May 15 Further details to follow
- Rotary International Convention Saturday June 12-Wednesday June 16 Virtual Meeting Further details at https://convention.rotary.
org/en/taipei
Patricia Murenbeeld, Rotary Club of Niagara On the Lake- President elect, New Generations Chair, District 7090 Vice Chair Northern Europe Youth Exchange.
- Time: Jan 26, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
- Register here to attend https://shar.es/aoc5rj
- District Conference Saturday March 20. Further details at https://rotary7090.org/
event/district-conference- 2020/
Icewine and Icewine Martinis with Donald Ziraldo-Virtual Tasting Tour
We are proud to announce that Donald Ziraldo will be our Guest Speaker on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 7PM.
Donald Ziraldo is a Canadian winemaker, businessman, and a Member of the Order of Canada.
No one has been more instrumental in driving the success of the Ontario wine industry than Donald Ziraldo. Donald and his business partner, Karl Kaiser, created Inniskillin Winery and put Canada on the map as the world’s top producer of icewine. Fuelled by a passion for this exceptional wine style, and a pursuit of excellence, Donald Ziraldo became a tireless global ambassador for icewine. Partnering with top sommeliers, wine writers and chefs, Donald Ziraldo transformed icewine into a world-renowned luxury brand.
On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 7 pm, Donald will entertain and educate us about the history of the wine industry in Niagara and guide us through an icewine tasting and icewine martini mixing.
In anticipation of this event, we ask that members and guests outfit themselves with local icewine, and if you are interested in creating a perfect icewine martini, vodka or gin. If you do not have a bottle of Niagara Icewine, you may consider purchasing one. In order to support local wineries, Donald suggests that you do your shopping online at your favourite winery. Any Niagara Icewine will be equally great, however, for obvious reasons, he suggests his favourite brand, Inniskillin.
Donald is the author of several books, including Icewine: Extreme Winemaking. In his generosity, Donald will provide a password for a free download of his book from his website to participants of our Tuesday meeting.
We are extending this invitation to all Club members, friends of Rotary and the community. If you are interested in joining the Niagara on the Lake Rotary Club in our Virtual Tasting Tour with Donald Ziraldo, please request a free zoom link from info@niagaraonthelakerotary.ca
Please note that we have changed our Tuesday’s meeting from lunch to evening in anticipation of this informal, fun, and educational experience provided by legendary Donald Ziraldo.
Patricia Murenbeeld, Rotary Club of Niagara On the Lake- President elect, New Generations Chair, District 7090 Vice Chair Northern Europe Youth Exchange.
It’s with a lot of regret that we are emailing to say that our bottle and can drive is cancelled going forward.
Given that we are moving into the greyzone on Boxing Day, we think it wise to do so.
Apart from any legal issues we might face, we think it unwise to ask our hosts and volunteers to put themselves out there during this serious lockdown.
The cadets, who helped us greatly in this project, would love our empties. They can be left at their drop off location at 901 East West Line.
Again, our committee would like to thank all of our volunteers and hosts for their very generous work.
Your efforts will help make a significant dent in our Club’s Feed the Children Project.
Wishing you All the best during this holiday season, and the very best to all for 2021!
The Rotary Bottle and Can Committee
Family of 4- Mom/Dad
Boy age 11 – He would love a basketball for Christmas
Girl age 5 – She loves all things unicorns, as well as Arts &Crafts supplies
Family of 3-Mom
Girl age 12 – She loves arts and crafts supplies/books
Boy age 10 – He loves anything educational/books
Family of 2-Mom
Boy age 11- all things science! He would love a beginner microscope/science experiment kit/Lego
Patricia Murenbeeld, Rotary Club of Niagara On the Lake- President elect, New Generations Chair, District 7090 Vice Chair Northern Europe Youth Exchange.
