RIBI ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY GROUP NEWSLETTER FOR CLUBS & DISTRICTS DECEMBER 2014 DATES FOR DIARY 29 November to 7 December – National Tree Week Early January – Distribute Christmas Tree Collection leaflets and collect trees 7 January – Last date for applications for free trees from the Woodland Trust 31 January – Last Date for Entries for Rodney Huggins Environmental Award 2 March to 8 March – Climate Week 2015 28 March – Earth Hour – 8.30 to 9.30 p.m. NATIONAL TREE WEEK - 29 November - 7 December 2014 Sorry this is a bit late to publicise as I only found out about it recently. Perhaps something to bear in mind next year although my own Club has purchased 34 trees at £50 each to be planted by 34 local schools on The Stray in Harrogate, each one of which has been dedicated to a World War One Regiment. Below is an extract from the web site. Each year since 1975 National Tree Week has encouraged us to celebrate our beautiful surroundings for a whole week - and what better way to do it than planting loads of your own trees? We have been celebrating the importance of our trees for hundreds of years. Two of our great British trees were even commemorated on British stamps; the Oak tree in February 1973, and this was followed in February 1974 by a stamp featuring the Horse Chestnut tree. Commonly described as the lungs of the earth, trees are such an important part of the world around us. They provide us with oxygen and are great for animals, birds and insects who need them for food and a home to live in. Did you know that a mature English Oak tree is home to over 284 species of insect alone! And that's not counting all the other species that the Oak supports. But with lots of trees being cut down all over the globe we can see that many humans take them for granted. Although you might think there's never a tree far away, the truth is that most places in Europe have many more wooded areas than our greenery here. Every year during National Tree Week, Tree Council organisations, hundreds of schools and others set up fun tree-themed events open to the public. Some of the exciting events that took place last year are listed below.
In 2013 at Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute Scotland's world record attempt at tree hugging took place. The event was organised by Glasgow Botanic Gardens
St Bridget Nurseries in Devon held a guided, behind the scenes Tree Field Tour. Information was also given on choosing the right type of trees for your garden.
The Wildlife Trust in Essex organised a Tress in Winter identification event. It's always more difficult to identify trees at this time of the year, and this event used buds and bark as a way of identifying different species.
And a Winter Willow Weaving event was organised by Dams to Darnley Country Park near Glasgow. It was a great way to get creative and at the same time make some natural Christmas
decorations, or a beautiful hand crafted wreath for your door. So, as you can see, it's not just about planting trees. It's so wonderful to learn about the fantastic work being carried out in our local communities to ensure that our important woodland areas are kept in good health and are enjoyed by future generations. With stories of rain forest deforestation and destruction seeming to come from so far away, it can be hard to remember that we can make a difference right here on our very door step.
CHRISTMAS TREE COLLECTION An easy way to raise money for your Rotary Club charities. Distribute leaflets in areas where you think there will be Christmas trees and offer to collect them in early January. Normal benefit from £3 to £5 per tree. See leaflet on the RIBI web site or look at the November Newsletter for more details. WOODLAND TRUST A further reminder that if you are planning to plant trees next spring, why not apply for packs of FREE trees from the Woodland Trust. They come in packs of 30, 60, 105, or 420 with a variety of content. For example the 30 packs are for a Copse or Hedge, while the 105 and 420 packs have varieties best for Wildlife, Year-round Colour, Wood Fuel, Wild Harvest, Wetland (introduced earlier this year), and now WILD WOOD which includes Downy Birch, Rowan, Hazel, Hawthorn, Crab Apple and Holly. Trees are normally delivered in early March, but the closing date for applications is 7 January 2015. However you are advised to apply sooner rather than later, as this date may be brought forward should demand exceed supply. See the Woodland Trust web site for more details. Apply under the heading of ‘Community Trees’. For further information, please see the leaflet on the web site. RODNEY HUGGINS ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD The closing date for entries for this Award is the 31st January 2015. Last year there were 17 entries. It would be nice to see at least one entry per District. There are three entry categories:ROTARY Any Rotary Club which is, itself, carrying out or supporting projects connected with the environment SCHOOL & YOUTH GROUPS Any project connected with the environment, run by schools or youth groups. There MUST be some Rotary involvement INTERNATIONAL Any Rotary Club or District involved in an environmentally sustainable project outside RIBI There are cash prizes for the winner of each category and then an additional amount for the overall winner thanks to the generosity of the Rodney Huggins Family Trust. Entry forms are available on the RIBI web site or e-mail me and I will send you one. CLIMATE WEEK – 2 TO 8 MARCH 2015 A week to show how we can combat climate change. Climate Week is Britain’s biggest climate change campaign, inspiring a new wave of action to create a sustainable future culminating in a week of activities. The first Climate Week in March 2011 saw half a million people attending 3,000 events in Britain’s biggest ever environmental occasion. Events were run by schools, businesses, charities, councils and many others.
You can find out more about Climate Week from their website: www.climateweek.com. They recommend a range of resources for teachers and they also encourage schools to register in advance for the CLIMATE WEEK CHALLENGE. The Climate Week Challenge is fun, free and easy to organise for your school to take part in Climate Week. The Climate Week Challenge for Schools is an exciting activity for teams of four to six people of any age. It helps develop creativity, innovation and enterprise, team-working skills and experience of tackling real-life environmental issues to a deadline. Please encourage your local schools to enter by bringing their attention to this project. There is a helpful leaflet for this on the RIBI web site. EARTH HOUR Earth Hour is due to be held on SATURDAY 28 MARCH 2015 FROM 8.30 P.M. TO 9.30 P.M. The idea of Earth Hour is to encourage everyone to turn off all electrical equipment for that hour. Let me know what you are arranging at both Club and District level, so that I can include it in future newsletters to encourage others to follow suit. Earth Hour is the largest movement for the planet in human history, spanning 7,000 cities, 152 countries with a digital reach of 200 million. Earth Hour is much, much more than a symbolic action of switching off lights for an hour; it’s a continuous movement driving actions, big and small, that are changing the world we live in. There is a leaflet about it on the RIBI web site. http://www.ribi.org/committees/community-service-rg/environment-group takes you direct to our web page on the RIBI web site. There you will find leaflets on all the subjects above as well as many others which I am sure you will find useful. If you need any help or advice, please contact the person or Club named on the leaflet or me, Terry Knowles, Member of the RIBI Environmental Sustainability Group, TERUNA2@aol.com.Tel 01423 525014