Rotary’s commitment to the environment in action

PICTURED: Harbord Primary School students help Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney member Lucian Keegal erect an Eco Pole in the school grounds.

Recognised as an Environmental Leadership Club for District 9685, the Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney is turning commemoration, education and global partnerships into practical environmental action.

The Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney has been recognised as an Environmental Leadership Club for District 9685. The award is in recognition of exemplifying global environment leadership with innovation, inclusivity and far-reaching impact.

“Through tree planting tributes, an international climate pitch workshop and the visionary development of Eco Poles and Bee Hotels, the club’s projects inspire action well beyond borders,” said District Environment Chair Melanie Lewis.

As a medium sized and diverse Rotary club with members spread around the world, it punches well above its weight in on-going environmental activities both locally and globally.

Over 600 memorial trees planted

When a club member passed away several years ago, it was decided that a grove of trees would be planted in her honour. At the time, two members half-jokingly said that was what they wanted when their time came. Sadly, both have now passed away.

The first provided an opportunity to plant trees at the new airport at Badgery’s Creek in Western Sydney.

Later the same year, when the second member passed away, it was suggested that trees be planted at Tea Gardens where he lived and volunteered with the Myall Koala and Environment Group Inc. The Mid-Coast Council was approached, and a suitable location on the outskirts of Tea Gardens Township was agreed upon. Two hundred and fifty Sydney Blue Gums and Flooded Gums were planted.

Zoom climate pitch workshop

Held on 30 March 2025, a Climate Pitch Workshop was presented by Mylene Turban, Country Coordinator of Fresk in Australia, who began her career as a chemical engineer in solar energy and groundwater remediation before transitioning to sustainability consulting, and Audrey Barucchi, the CEO and co-founder of People for Nature, an environmental charity rooted in citizen-led action.

The program included a power point presentation and interactive responses on what climate change is, suggestions for actions we can take, and the encouraging note: ‘Don’t be overwhelmed – small steps can make a difference’. Forty-five attendees Zoomed in from nine countries to help solve one of the world’s leading problems.

Eco Poles

The construction and placement of Eco Poles is a new initiative of the Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney. These poles consist of a Bee Hotel for Australian native bees atop a wooden post bearing informative signs about the characteristics and importance of our native bees.

The aim is to have the poles placed in school gardens planted with bee-friendly flowers, where they can become a talking point, build on lesson plans and encourage students to learn more about our very important native bees. Four Eco Poles have been erected to date, three in schools and one in the Coastal Environment Centre in Narrabeen.

RAWCS projects

The Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney received the Gold Award for Environment in 2022-23. The club’s international RAWCS projects are on-going. Leaders regularly visit projects in Congo, Kenya, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Philippines, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. Each project includes aspects of Rotary’s environmental area of focus:

• Food systems – Permaculture gardening and providing clean water in Timor-Leste.
• Circular economy – Providing second-hand equipment such as sewing machines and medical equipment and training in the use, maintenance and care of the equipment in projects such as SewAid and BanglaSmiles in Bangladesh.
• Planting trees and providing education in sustainable bee keeping in the remote village of Lotumbe, Democratic Republic of Congo, accessible only by canoe or forest paths.
• KINI Kenya – Founded by Barbara Parkins in 2012, KINI rescues children from harmful, life threatening situations and provides orphans and vulnerable families with food, healthcare, education and a safe environment where every child can thrive.
• Providing water to entire villages in Sri Lanka through integrated water shed development.

Rotary special interest groups

Many club members have joined groups such as End Plastic Soup, Rotarians for Bees and the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action
Group (ESRAG).

Carbon neutral meetings

The club’s Environment Committee ensures meetings are carbon neutral by planting several trees each year to compensate for the electricity used in Zoom meetings.

According to an ESRAG calculation, a Zoom meeting produces two grams of CO2 per person per hour, due to the use of electricity. Working off approximately 20 people per meeting, 24 times per year, the club generates 960 grams of CO2 per year. Carbon calculators indicate that .017 trees need to be planted each year to offset this. The club specifically plants a tree a year for carbon neutrality.