Every day I walk my dogs around my neighborhood in Vista and my parent’s neighborhood in Carlsbad, I see this sign in front of many homes.
The sign reads.
“In this house we believe:
Love is Love
Black Lives Matter
No Human is Illegal
Science is Real
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
In a World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Kind”
On the surface this is an immensely powerful and positive message. I know one neighbor was worried how some people would react but put it up anyways. Unfortunately, one word diminishes the value of the statement; BELIEVE. What is stated on this sign after the word Believe are facts and should not be represented in any other fashion. People believe in a particular religion, Santa Clause, a preferred political party, or even an economic philosophy. You do not believe in facts; you know or understand them. The sign should read, “In This House We Know:”.
One does not “believe in” or “not believe in” the Climate Crisis; you understand or don’t understand. This is a new year, and it is the year we need to be straight forward with the message. My goal is to stand my ground and not allow others to water down the message.
Happy New Year!
Yours in Rotary,
Carter Stafford
Club President 2020-21
Upcoming Events
Speaker Program
Due to the ongoing health crisis we are experiencing, we have moved our club meetings to an online format. We are extremely happy to be able to continue our mission to educate our members and our community despite the challenges!
All guests are welcome to attend presentation meetings. Please RSVP for each meeting you would like to attend.
Shelter Box
We are extremely pleased to host Bill Tobin, on January 5, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.
Bill began as a volunteer for ShelterBox after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Since then Bill has shared the ShelterBox story to thousands of Rotarians, organized fundraisers and awareness events for ShelterBox USA, and helped lead the team of USA Ambassadors in raising over 1.4 million dollars for ShelterBox in 2017. Please RSVP to attend this meeting and join us to hear more about ShelterBox humanitarian effort!
Join us on January 12, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. as we host Steve Weitzen, Governor of District 5340.
Steven Weitzen is a resident of La Jolla with his wife, Ava, a native San Diegan, and a member of the Rotary Club Del Mar Solana Beach since 2006 . He has been a licensed attorney since 1987 and opened his law practice in 1990. Today, he is a solo practitioner in the area of civil litigation.
Join us to hear more about the District 5340's effort and program for the year 2020-2021 as Steve is halfway through his term.
Join us on January 19, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. as we host Lynn Talley, Distinguished Professor of Physical Oceanography in the Climate, Atmospheric Sciences, and Physical Oceanography Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California.
Since 2016, Talley has led the observation team of the SOCCOM project: Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling, which is deploying biogeochemical profiling Argo floats throughout the southern ocean. Her research group is involved directly in float, hydrographic, and satellite data analysis, interfacing with the Southern Ocean State Estimate and data-model comparisons.
Lynne will discuss her recent funding, how it will impact her research, and the reason this data is so relevant to the future of our oceans and the world.
SPECIAL EVENT - Fundraiser in Support of Produce Good
You are invited to join our first online fundraiser in support of Produce Good on January 26, 2021 at 6 p.m. For more information, please see the invitation below or click on the button to visit our website.
We are pleased to volunteer at San Dieguito County Park every month. As health and safety restrictions are constantly evolving, please check our calendar regularly for the next event.
Starting December 6, 2020, the club provides a weekly support to ProduceGood by collecting unsold fruits and vegetables from vendors of the Solana Beach Farmers' Market on Sundays. The gleaned produce will then be donated to local pantries and food banks to help the surrounding community.
Volunteer opportunity! Please contact Amelie Catheline by replying to this newsletter if you would like to get involved.
Through the Solana Beach Eco Rotary Foundation, Rotarians of the club are supporting several nonprofit organizations which missions help the environmental cause. Every year, our foundation applies for matching grants through the Rotary district 5340 to increase our impact. This month, we would like to highlight one of these organizations: ProduceGood.
ProduceGood is a food recovery non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce waste and hunger while building community. They recover excess produce from orchards, farms and Farmers Markets in San Diego County. To date, they have rescued 741,050 lbs. and provided over 2 million servings of fresh fruits and vegetables to San Diego’s food insecure, diverting over 370 TONS of edible produce from entering the landfill.
The Solana Beach Eco Rotary Club and Foundation support the important mission of ProduceGood in many ways. Members of the club volunteer on a weekly basis to help recover unsold produce and fresh food at the Solana Beach Farmers market. Members have also participated to fruit pickups organized throughout the year.
Additionally the Solana Beach Eco Rotary Foundation provides a financial support to their programs. This year, the Foundation secured $500 in cash contribution that were matched by the District 5340 to reach a total of $1,000. This grant supports the Market Share program of Produce Good. Particularly it supports their newest project at the Leucadia Farmers Market with operational funds to facilitate the collection and redistribution of the donated produce. We believe Produce Good operates under the same standards and philosophy as Rotary and is extremely effective in serving our community.
Thus, we are extremely happy to organize a fundraiser at the end of the month in support of ProduceGood. All proceeds of this fundraiser will help continue their Market Share program at the Solana Beach Farmers Market, directly supporting staff, coordination, logistics, and equipment.
Photos: Eco Rotarians are actively participating in the Market Share Program, collecting fresh produce and unsold food. These pictures were taken in December 2020.
Many groups in the San Diego region are very active in promoting efforts and action taken to address environmental challenges.
Due to the ongoing physical distancing requirements, many organizations have adopted new gathering formats. Check out your favorite organization's website regularly as they may have transitioned to an online platform. Most of them are continuing taking action to protect our environment!
Eco-Rotarians are leaders and key players of other various groups in our community. Because it is critical to collaborate and share events and information as much as possible to support each other, I encourage everyone to follow San Diego Climate Action Network, which provides a great calendar of events happening in the region. If your organization has transitioned to an online format, contact SDCAN to promote your online events!
Clean Earth 4 Kids
CleanEarth4Kids.orgholds a weekly virtual webinar on Thursdays, at 5:30 p.m.to discuss important updates on environmental policies and regulations. The youth board provides updates on regulation and roll backs related to climate change, wildlife and ecosystem protection, clean air, clean water, toxic free neighborhoods and zero waste.
Visit their website to register and attend their meetings.
North County Climate Change Alliance
Changing Climate Series via Zoom
Thursday, January 14th
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PT
Climate Steps to Action
Be sure to join NCCCA to hear from Dr. Annette Olson who is the Founder and Executive Director for Climate Steps. Climate Steps is a volunteer blog/ organization/ community focused on providing information about impactful individual action: personal, social, political, and more. Annette has served as a scientific advisor for the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other federal agencies. She earned a B.S. with Honors from Baylor University, TX, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Miami, FL.
There is no charge for this online event but please register here in advance! After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Citizens' Climate Lobby
Monthly meetings onSaturday, January 9. Please mark your calendars.
There will be two meetings: a national meeting at 10:00 a.m. and a chapter meeting at 10:45 a.m.
1. National Meeting. Connect at or before 10:00 AM at cclusa.org/meeting. As CCL gears up for reintroduction of carbon-fee-and-dividend legislation in the new Congress, you will hear from economist Dr. Noah Kaufman, lead author of the 2019 Columbia University assessment of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. The study confirmed the effectiveness of the bill from both an environmental and economic perspective.
For further information please contact Larry Kramer.
What Happened Last Month?
During the month of December, we had two great programs. We first hosted Jen Flynn who discussed investing in properties and raw land in California.
Then, we hosted Bill Dean and his students from the BCK Program.
We learned more about their “Recycle Right” tutorials recently created. These tutorials are located on their “Students for Zero Waste” website. On January 15th they will be adding four more tutorials focused on Organics and how students and residents can keep this material out of landfills, and make lifestyle ideas that reduce organic waste.
During this exciting presentation, five Oceanside students presented a new program they recently completed. These six Recycle Right tutorials are designed to educate students and residents about all aspects of recycling. From the history of recycling, all the way through to making responsible personal choices based on the seven R’s. This new, on-line education outreach effort by BCK Programs was created for the City of Oceanside and Waste Management. Rotarians and others can learn the latest information about the state of recycling and what they can do in their homes on the road to zero waste.
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