28. JANUAR: BJØRN STEINAR SKARBØ, STORFJORDENS VENNER

Del III av Bjørn Steiner sitt foredrag om Storfjordens Venner sine prosjekter.

21. JANUAR 2019: BEDRIFTSBESØK NEVOTEX

Kjetil Klock er daglig leder i firmaet Nevotex, en av Skandinavias ledende grossister av tekstil, hud og materialer til aktører innen innredning og stoppmøbelindustri. Nevotex leverer blant annet til en del store møbelbedrifter på Sunnmøre, maritime bedrifter, men også til møbeltapetserere og prosjekter, som for eksempel hotell. På Sjøholt er det 6 ansatte. Etter en presentasjon, hvor Kjetil informerte oss om organisasjonen, utviklingen og ambisjonene, fikk vi en visning i bedriften. Vi takker Kjetil for et hyggelig og interessant bedriftsbesøk.

På presidentens møte 7. januar 2019 presenterte presidenten Gert Rietman prosjektet End Plastic Soup Now, i rammen av månedens tema: awareness. Her nede kan du lese mer om dette initiativet fra Rotary Distrikt 1580. Vi håper at mange klubber i vårt distrikt skal være med i dette initiativet.

Plastic waste in the oceans is a major global problem. The oceans constitute 72% of the earth’s surface and are our primary oxygen suppliers. More and more plastics are floating in our oceans and seas. It comes from rubbish that we throw away on the street, in rivers, fishnets that are discarded, from washing synthetic clothing, brushing our teeth, etc. All these different types of plastic combined form the plastic soup in the seas. Weathering, sunlight and wave action break down large pieces into small bits. This causes serious pollution. And, because plastic is non-biodegradable, the plastic soup is lethal for many marine animals. Most of the pollution comes from land. At least 80% of the plastic rubbish in the oceans is dumped by industry and by people on land. It is carried to the sea by rivers, canals, harbour and the wind. So how we prevent plastic from ending up in the oceans is also a question mankind should pose itself.

Plastic waste is not an easy problem to tackle. Creating awareness is the most important challenge: people all over the world should know about the dangers of plastic waste. Secondly, concrete measures have to be taken to clean the oceans, to minimize the amount of waste reaching the seas and to reduce the use and production of harmful plastics. As local Rotary Clubs we may be instrumental to an increase in awareness in our communities. After all, cleaning and prevention measures have to be taken both at a national and international level. That is where our Rotary network comes into the picture.

To create awareness of this global plastic problem 12 Rotary Clubs of D1580 – Amsterdam have launched a new Rotary initiative that hopefully will go global: Rotary End Plastic Soup Now.

With the start of End Plastic Soup Now we want to create an international movement to connect initiatives, local, regional, international, come up with new idea’s and solutions, use our influence and power to connect for this major problem. We started the campaign in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and have the ambition to make the 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide aware of the immense problem of plastic waste. We will offer existing organizations that are fighting plastic an international platform; we connect (local) initiatives with each other and broaden it to an international level. With this we give the plastic problem a broad dimension. Together we go for a clean ocean! End Plastic Soup Now.