Club News

Sonia Jackson of Plastic Free Faversham came to talk to members recently. She gave a very informative presentation about plastics, both globally and locally, and the challenges of recycling them. Here is her summary:

”Since starting our Zerowaste™ recycling boxes with Terracycle in April 2023, we are now on our fourth Oral Care box and our third All In One box, boosted with the funding from Faversham Rotary Club.

We think the boxes have been very successful even though we’ve only advertised on our Facebook page. But people have discovered the boxes through word of mouth, too, so more people are bringing along those hard to recycle items, such as CDs, old cassettes and videos, clothes hangers, crisp packets, old gardening equipment, etc.

Their location in the Swale Visitor Centre in Faversham Market Place has been convenient for people to access. It also seems to have encouraged the Environment Committee at Faversham Town Council to add to the collection by launching their own Zerowaste™ Crisp Packets and Sweet Wrappers box! The more the merrier, we say!

Click on the links below to find out about how Terracycle works and the video which shows how waste is recycled into new products:

u  https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/#@54.39586446195522:2.83447377734376zoom:5

u  https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/pages/journey-of-waste

We are now discussing whether to expand the boxes into some of the satellite villages, such as Boughton Under Blean and Oare.

We know that we can’t recycle our way out of the plastic and waste crisis. We need to move to a circular economy where waste is designed out of the system altogether. But Zerowaste boxes are part of current solution whereby raising the profile of recycling means that people become more and more accustomed to regarding waste as, well … wasteful!”

Club members were delighted to welcome Ivan Atwiine to their evening meeting.

Ivan is a member of the Morningtide Bugolobi club in Uganda. Bugolobi is a suburb of Kampala, the Ugandan capital.

Ivan is in the UK visiting his in-laws with his wife and family of three children.

He shared some similarities and differences between his Rotary club in Uganda and ours in Faversham.

His club has 43 members, average age 40 and with 22 women members. He laughed as he said that while the male members were more laid back, it was the women who got into action to make things happen!

At a recent social evening, Club members and guests took on the challenge of entertaining their  fellow diners with stories of memorable holiday incidents. Bursts of laughter suggested some very amusing accounts including:-

Emily finding herself on a deserted beach in Sri Lanka as the economy there tanked;

John Bromiley on a plane in Greece which managed to land badly - but not until its 3rd attempt;

Alan describing a husband’s attempts to blow up a lilo air bed and sending his wife sky high;

John Blackford finding himself in the dining room of a French hotel only to be greeted by an expletive from one of his pupils;

Jim describing the tensions of holidaying with friends;

Clarissa and young family confronted late at night in their caravan by an angry, drunk chef demanding a tip despite an hour long gap between serving the children’s meal and that of their parents.

Thank you to all who entered into the spirit of an enjoyable evening.