Scotts Valley Rotary Sustainability Committee

We are a group of Rotarians committed to promote sustainability at the physical, social and economic levels. The goal is for all our projects to be sustainable, to consider environmental integrity, social well being, and prosperity for all involved.

To promote sustainability our Club has just created a Sustainability Committee. While we have not yet evaluated or integrated our principles in all our Club projects, we have put an emphasis on projects that promote a healthy environment. Here some of our projects:
Our current hands on project is the adoption of Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz, California which we clean three times per year. We also do creek clean ups and collect tons of plastics and other trash that would otherwise go to the ocean and worsen the situation in the North Pacific Gyre.

The ChicoBags Project--Selling reusable Rotary ChicoBags cuts down on single-use plastic waste. Over consumption of plastic happens at an overwhelming and staggering rate and is the cause of some of the worst environmental problems that our planet faces today. These bags not only help reduce plastic in the ocean, but promote our club, promote local businesses who sponsored the project, and raises money for charity when they are sold. It is a sustainable project.

Our Committee would like to expand our Chico Bags project to help the North Pacific Gyre situation. A large current north of the Hawaiian Islands has collected a garbage patch at least twice the size of Texas made up of mostly plastics. The UN estimates that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile of ocean worldwide, and in the densest parts of these gyres (at least one gyre per ocean), plastic pieces outnumber plankton at least 40 to 1!

We also planted trees at Scotts Valley High School with the help of our high school and middle school Interactors which will beautify the campus for years to come, while positively influencing air quality.

We have a yearly E-Waste recycling event to allow the community to properly dispose of harmful electronic and heavy metal waste, while supporting charities.

At District events, we host a table which displays our projects and the message of the local non-profit Save Our Shores. This educational effort surprises everyone who walks by because awareness of these issues is not widely distributed. We have also spurred the interests of our Interact club, which has participated in our beach cleanups and receives educational presentations about environmental issues.

The next step is to share this page with all the members of Rotary, and prioritize future projects, i.e. making our next fund raising event green.

"If you want to change the world, if you want to make a difference in peoples lives, look to Rotary" - Rob Slawinski. Look into our Sustainability Committe to make a change in the world!

To us, sustainability means that before taking action, whether we are building something, using certain products, or supporting projects, we consider the longterm impact of our actions. We are concerned with the impact of our actions on our community today and on future generations.

Per the UN Brundtland Commission, 1987: "Sustainable Development...meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."

We must think about how the full lifecycle of a product or project interacts with the planet when we are implementing a project. This refers to the harvesting of resources, manufacturing and transportation, and end life disposal/completion. Plus its interaction with the local community and benefits to the economy. In summary, how does each step impact the planet, the happiness of the people, and the prosperity of all involved? Not just at the time of project implementation, but over time. We follow the Rotary 4 Way test, and then we ask: Is the project sustainable?

Where to start? Being sustainable starts with the individual and their choices. Each person can do his/her part in simple things such as, reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, or use it at the level the earth can replenish it, not faster. Reuse what exists and only produce what can go back to ashes; and recycle if nothing else can be done with it. This is how the natural ecosystems operate.

Learn sustainability from natural ecosystems, such as forests and wetlands. They absorb carbon dioxide, filter water, protect the land from storm surges, while providing the habitat for most of world fisheries and wild life, for the reproduction of bees and our food supply. They provide for life in the planet. Natural Ecosystems provide services to humans, and we need to copy their example in our daily lives, and assign an economic value to it. Every thing we do counts!

If you like this, you can start by sending us an email mpatrizia2@gmail.com, and/or surferjo@yahoo.com, give us a call at 831 334 2383 for Patrizia Materassi, and/or 831 706 6345 for Jack Marden, or come by to one of our meetings on the first Monday of the Month at 11:30 am, at the Hilton Hotel in Scotts Valley, CA, USA. We are leaders, come join us!