Ange’s Chat
We had a great roll up for Jeff Lean’s presentation last week; his topic ‘Climate Change, Consumption and Mindfulness’. He began by saying how complex the problem was and that ‘global pollution’ in his opinion would be a more accurate term than ‘climate change’.
He talked about Earth’s warming, what was causing it, and the accelerating rate of extinction of many species on our planet as a result. He showed an interesting graph with fossil fuels and carbon emissions responsible for only about one-third of global pollution, with human consumption the rest.
Jeff spoke about what drives people’s personal consumption and the resultant waste and its impact down the track. Waste is a huge problem worldwide, such as from agricultural runoff, breakdown of drugs, and micro beads used in many beauty products, just to name a few.
He said we are all influenced by the psychology behind advertising. Planned obsolescence means many goods are deliberately designed not to last and we’re all pressured to replace things more often than was the case in the past.
Jeff asked, “do we really need so much stuff?”. He said each of us can make a difference by being more “mindful of our purchases” and consider what effect they might have on some remote part of the world; question what we buy and what’s in it (avoid products containing polycarbonates). His message was simple: “Buy less and think more”.
Jeff’s message was sobering. Many people are now more aware of the warming of the planet and its serious implication for our future. CSIRO has predicted a temperature rise of 3 °C by 2030 unless everyone takes urgent action.
Welcome Andrew Lawson
Last Thursday it gave me great pleasure to induct Andrew Lawson from Wandella into our Club. Andrew’s presence brings us new, much needed energy and commitment.
THIS WEEK
Our Annual General Meeting is this Thursday, 10 December. Secretary Rod is delighted to have received some nominations for our Board for 2021-2022 but more are needed.
The AGM will be preceded by a Board meeting at 5pm.
The Week that Was
Last week’s international toast by Mike Young was to the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland in Ontario, Canada. Mike chose that club because it is the club of Jennifer Jones, the RI President Nominee who will be RI President in 2022-23 and the first female President of Rotary International.
The club’s board is largely female and they are heavily involved in various Youth, Community/Vocational and International Service Projects, including some Peace Projects (eg. Peace Schools), as well as The Rotary Foundation. Their Club meetings are all via Zoom at the moment because of Covid-19 issues in Canada.
Out and About
Zoom on membership with Evan Burrell
President Ange encourages us to take this opportunity and tune in to the District 9705 Membership Forum via Zoom Tuesday 8 December at 5.30pm with Evan Burrell. He will talk about ‘Telling the Rotary Story’…using social media and developing a good public image in a way to share the stories of Rotary doing good in the world. You need to register; details have been circulated.
So who is Evan? He is a Digital Media Consultant for Rotary Down Under, manages a digital consultancy start up, is a member of the Rotary Club of Turramurra and been involved with Rotary for almost 20 years, a member of the RI Communications Committee, as well as an Assistant Rotary Public Image Coordinator for the whole of Australia in Zone 8. He is also a big Superman fan.
Evan uses social media to show that Rotarians are not only making a positive difference in the world, they are also having fun doing it. He presents Rotary in a lighter more engaging way, showing the more fun and humorous side to our organisation, He finds it grabs people’s attention, member sand non-member alike. This makes the idea of Rotary more relatable, especially to new generations, who may feel disconnected with some of the formalities of Rotary but are avid users of social media.
Sad farewell to Maureen Manning
PDG Maureen Manning is leaving the District. This is a huge loss to Batemans Bay Club; she has also been a great friend of our Club. For years she was the driving force behind the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) weekends for high school students at Mogo.
Request for Stamps
Chris O’Brien asks members to please save your used stamps and give them to her. They will be sent to a charity. Chris says it would be appreciated if you could ensure there is a border of at least 1cm around the stamp.
From Moruya Rotary
Moruya Rotarians had their Christmas party at the Golf Club last week “a splendid gathering” of 52 members, partners and guests “the like of which we not seen since pre-Covid days”. President Peter saw it as a sign “we seem to be on the road to recovery from a year that has been a once in a lifetime event”, describing 2020 as “a year that none of us will ever forget, and which will forge our aspirations and plans for the rest of our lives”.
Moruya has lost a large number of members during the year for various reasons but President Peter says “the Club is not diminished”. Members are doing some soul searching about the reasons why.
Peter notes in this week’s bulletin that much attention is given to recruiting new Rotary Members. “It appears to me that as we look to emerge from 2020 into better times, wiser and hopefully stronger, we also need to imagine a broader Rotary world where some of the energy put into and satisfaction derived from service to the wider community can also be directed back towards the needs of our fellow Rotarians in our lives… Rotary must be Fun!”
NEXT WEEK
Our Christmas Party is on Thursday 17 December, 6 for 6.30pm, at The Inlet. If you haven’t already done so, please let Chris O’Brien know if you are coming and who you are bringing, partners and friends.
Let’s make it a great end of year party. The cost is $40 pp and the menu promises to be as good as last year. Members are asked to please bring along a present to the value of $5 – $10 and Santa and his helper will join us to add to the fun of the evening.