D6330 Environment Day

In 2021, Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation officially made the Supporting the Environment one of the Foundation's seven Areas of Focus. D6330 celebrated this exciting news by doing good in our communities on the first D6330 Rotary Environment Day—April 24, 2021! We asked each Rotary Club in the district to pick a project (or a few!) from the following list and make it happen! Check out the table below to see a comparison of the projects, and then click the name of each project in the table below to learn more about each one.

If you plan on offering snacks and refreshments at your event(s), consider a water bottle filling station (encouraging people to bring their own reusable water bottles) instead of single-use plastic water bottles and zero- or low-waste snacks.

We would like to thank Stephan Vachon, Associate Professor, Operations Management at the Ivey Business School and his team from the Masters in Environment and Sustainability Program for providing the activities and information: Danielle Myer, Carly Grant, John Kennedy, Elizabeth Roden, Alisha Khimavat, Allison Morgan, Erika Boody, and Jessica Hennessy. Thank you!

Food Gleaning Initiative: Another fantastic idea for Environment Day comes from the Meaford Rotary Club! The food gleaning initiative is the idea of a local environmental group named Transitions Meaford. It's a program wherein local orchard owners allow volunteers to go through their orchards after the harvest is complete. The volunteers pick and gather any fruit that was missed. A small percentage of fruit that is gleaned is shared with the orchard owner to make it worthwhile for them to co-operate, and the major portion will then be donated to food insecurity programs active in the area. In 2020, apparently 1,600 pounds of apples were harvested! Rotarians, along with other volunteers, provide the labour. To expand the impact of this fantastic program, Transitions Meaford has actually asked the Rotary Club to take over the leadership of this initiative and they will work alongside the Club, who will also partner with other groups such as the Food Bank to expand the volunteer group. Contact the Rotary Club of Meaford for more information on this fantastic project.

Purple for Polio Gardens: By purchasing a Purple for Polio garden package, you can help eradicate polio while beautifying your garden and increasing Rotary's visibility in your neighbourhood! There are various packages available that include flowers and signage (fall bulbs are available too), and delivery in Southwestern Ontario is available! Check out the Facebook page for more information or email Margaret Trainor-Cook. 

Promoting Your Events/Projects

• Photos & Videos
  • Take photos and videos of the before, during, and after: Have pictures of your club planning the event, preparing for / setting up the event on the day of, executing the event, and cleaning/wrapping up after the event. Share these on social media as you go (i.e. don't same them all for after the event) to build excitement and anticipation for the event.
  • Designate/ask multiple people to take photos and videos: It's easy to want to leave this duty to that one photo-fanatic in your club, but different points of view are helpful and important! Also, your club's photo-fanatic can't be in all places at once, so the more people you have capturing great moments and fun times, the better!
  • Go for candid, but don't be afraid to direct: We all love a good candid, "People of Action" photo, but sometimes we end up instead with photos of people blinking, turned backs, or blurry action shots. Don't be afraid to direct a little bit to help make that candid shot the best it can be! Let people know you'll be taking the photo so they know not to turn their back, walk away, etc.
  • Check your photos and videos as you go: After you take a photo, take a moment to check it to make sure it's what you want. What are you looking for? Clear, not blurry, no blinkers, no one cut out, etc. Don't be afraid to take another photo if the first didn't turn out as well as you thought. With the advent of digital cameras, we tend to take a bunch of photos and just assume or hope that one will turn out good—don't leave it to chance! Your subjects are usually more patient and understanding than you think.
  • Keep them short: If you're taking videos, keep them to under 30 seconds. People would rather watch ten 30-second videos than one 5-minute video. Yes, that 15-minute 'recap video' seems like a cute idea, but shorter clips will be much more popular and have greater exposure, especially on social media.
  • Share, share share!: Share your photos and videos on social media, on your website, and in print publications such as your local newspaper! It's a great way to get the word out about the great work your club is doing, to thank the community, and show that Rotarians are People of Action!
  • Permission: If you're taking photos of minors, be sure you have their parent's/guardian's permission. 
• Publicity & Exposure
  • Local publications: Invite your local newspapers or publications to the event well in advance so they can attend and publish a story about it. Let them know what the event is and why you're doing it/the significance.
  • Local groups: Work with and invite local environmental, sustainability, nature, and gardening groups/authorities/bodies so they are aware of the event and can let their members know about it too.
  • Rotary visibility: On the day of the event, bring lots of Rotary signage: banners, signs, and whatever else you may have to make Rotary prominent! Have your club's members wear Rotary clothing to the event as well. You might even consider having shirts (sustainably sourced materials, of course!) made for the event.