Protecting the Environment

Rotary Cub of Sidney by the Sea members aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty to keep our community clean and an enjoyable place to live, work and play. By participating in beach cleanups at Island View Beach, we help to protect our oceans and aquaculture from trash left at the beach or that washes up on shore. Our club has also participated in the adopt-a-highway program cleaning up the Patricia Bay Highway near Sidney.

“It is the responsibility of EVERY ROTARIAN to support action directed at improving the environment and protecting animals and plants from extinction.”

Partnering with Rotary clubs in Langley, Delta and Malawi, the Rotary Club of Sidney by the Sea supported improvements to the water and power supply at the Atsikana Pa Ulendo (APU) girls school in Malawi. The project involved drilling the school’s third well, pump installation (diesel and solar powered). This helped to meet the school’s 45,000 litre-per-day water requirement with a versatile system using solar energy as much as possible.

Photo courtesy of Malawi Girls on the Move.

Our club, in partnership with other Rotary clubs, has provided villages and families in countries experiencing major natural disasters with a Solar Oven, a product developed by a Rotary member. Our club, in partnership with other Rotary clubs, has provided villages and families in countries experiencing major natural disasters with a Solar Oven, a product developed by a Rotary member. Most recently our club has partners with other Rotarians to provide Haines Solar ovens in rural Mexico to single parent families. The life-saving cooking appliance helps individuals and communities cook without the negative affects of burning wood, both on the health of those cooking and environmental effects from removing the carbon-capturing trees..

Photo courtesy of Sun Oven.

Working with the Rotary Club of Chemainus, our club supported converting wood-burning stoves to propane gas stoves and providing cookware for families in a Mayan village in Guatemala. With propane stoves and proper cookware, women and children save time by not needing to collect firewood are exposed less to woodsmoke and save money as propane costs one seventh the cost wood.

Photo courtesy of Chemainus Rotary.

Members of the Rotary Club of Sidney by the Sea can participate in a global action group focused on environmental sustainability. The Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (or ESRAG) provides resources to and assists clubs like ours in planning and implementing service projects, as well as creating awareness and inspiring action for environmental and sustainable causes.

Club members are actively supporting protecting the environment by completing hands on restoration initiatives, facilitating an environmental education symposium and supporting other non profits environmental programs. The club also received honours for its video submission to the I Fix the Planet international video competition put on by the Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group (ESRAG).

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