December 2017

The Tree Challenge – How are We Doing? How is in Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland doing as we rise to the challenge laid down by Rotary International President Ian Riseley for every Rotarian to plant at least one Tree before Earth Day on 22nd April 2018? We are doing well so far – momentum is gathering and many trees are being planted! if your Club has not yet taken action then now is the time to ACT! Our Tree Consultant Terry Knowles reports: The Woodland Trust have reported that they have received orders for over 7000 free community trees covering those ordered for November delivery and those for March 2018. There is still time to order FREE COMMUNITY trees but the closing date is no later than 5th JANUARY so order NOW. Their trees come in packs of 30, 60, 105 or 420 to be planted in March. The 45 trees for £62 offer is also still available, probably until January. These need to be ordered through the Woodland Trust SHOP. Again order as soon as you can to

avoid disappointment. Unfortunately many Clubs did not use the link which would have recorded that the order was coming from a Rotary Club, so no figures are available as to how many packs have been sold to

CAN WE LEAD THE WAY IN R.I.B.I. TO SHOW THAT WE CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND LEAD THE ROTARY WORLD? HOW BETTER THAN FULFILLING THAT DREAM HERE!!

Clubs. You can order more than one pack if you wish Some Clubs have ordered FREE COMMUNITY TREES through the OVO ‘I DIG TREES’ scheme. When checking with them at the beginning of December they said they have just 2,000 trees left. These come in packs of 50 (10 each of 5 varieties), so do not delay if you prefer these.

If you need any help or advice, please contact John Sayer, Secretary of the GB&I Environmental Sustainability Group by e-mail on [email protected] or telephone 01785 815580

December 2017

NOT YET ORDERED ANY TREES? If you do not have any land or feel unable to plant trees in your area, all is not lost: •

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By donating £2.50 per Club, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will plant a tree for you in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the middle of Yorkshire. This is organised though the Rotary Club of Harrogate. To help another country you can donate to the Sustainable Global Gardens scheme who organise school children to plant trees in Tanzania. Trees there can be bought for as little as 20p, and the scheme is run by the Rotary Club of Newcastle Gosforth. The Sand Dams project run by the Rotary Club of Easthampstead also needs trees and recently we have learnt that District 1100 are supporting a tree planting scheme in Dominica

For more details on these projects, contact Rotarian Knowles, Tel 01423 or [email protected].

any of please Terry 525014 e-mail

RODNEY HUGGINS AWARD ENTRIES FOR THE 2017/8 RIBI ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD MUST BE SUBMITTED BY THE END OF JANUARY! There is an entry form on the web site or contact the Group Secretary (see below) for details. For the last time a Bursary of £250 is being offered by the Rodney Huggins Family Trust for the best and most original environmental project.

ESRAG ESRAG is the acronym for the Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group – and all Rotarians with an interest in the Environment and Sustainability are encouraged to join – it costs just $30 (roughly £23) a year and provides access to a wide range of resources. See www.esrag.org and click on the envelope for the free newsletter. Seasons Greetings to all our Readers.

A new and one off Award is also to be available for the best Tree Planting Project. Entries for this will need to be submitted to Rotarian Terry Knowles by the end of April. More details later. The Environmental Sustainability Group is part of the RIBI Home Committee – and much more information about Environmental matters can be found on our webpage: https://www.rotarygbi.org/members/humanitarian-serviceprogrammes/community/environment-sustainability-group/

If you need any help or advice, please contact John Sayer, Secretary of the GB&I Environmental Sustainability Group by e-mail on [email protected] or telephone 01785 815580