As a new Rotarian, I was informed that it was an expected duty of being a Rotarian to "Do your bit" and step up when the time came to lead the Club as the President. A bit closer to the real pitch came the clincher, "You just delegate, sit back and watch it all happen". 

 

Obviously I was not convinced, but I took it all on board as I prepared to "Do my bit". Rotarians are leaders in their field, their communities and in their own lives. To be a leader, you need to know stuff.

 

 

In my business, I know stuff about production methods, trends in colours and consumer expectations, product presentation, transport, price brackets, marketing, websites, stock management, databases, labelling, managing staff, market competition and accounting. My business is a leader in its field and I have a good following across the world. In my family, I'm the boss (after Judy), so I'm a leader there too.

 

In Rotary I like to do my own thing and get the best impact for the time I have available and this is where I have become unstuck. I have been the District Webmaster for 6 years and the District Conference registrar for a similar time. Both of these roles I can blend in with the time I have available and I get to enjoy the wealth of experiences and people interactions along the way. As you can see by the story so far, I am a one-person show and that isn't sitting well with the Club President gig. I have to learn to delegate!

 

So let's get back to Delegation ("You just delegate, sit back and watch it all happen"). According to Wikipedia, the wealth of all knowledge, delegation is the assignment of any authority to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. It is one of the core concepts of management leadership. However, the person who delegated the work remains accountable for the outcome of the delegated work. Delegation empowers a subordinate to make decisions, i.e. it is a shifting of decision-making authority from one organizational level to a lower one. Delegation, if properly done, is not fabrication.

Delegation has been a difficult process for me, because the time it takes to delegate can be twice or three times as long as it takes to do it myself. In my world that is $$$ and a hit on my livelihood. At some point I need to find fast learning and motivated people that are up for serious challenges and are prepared to take risks. When I started as the District Webmaster and the Conference Registrar job, I didn't have a lot of experienced people to guide me along so I made my own mistakes/path. It wasn't a pleasant experience at first!

 

Now, more than ever we need to find natural leaders in our club and in the community that are willing to punch the Rotary Club of Berwick forward to the benefit of the Club, the community and themselves. If you are that person, I don't have to spell it out! Let's try some of that delegation!

 

Consider Club Program, Website, Email Service, Clubrunner, Communications, Storytelling, Project management, Social Engagement.......................  The list goes on!

 

Don't wait for an opportunity, create it!

 

Plastics made from fossil fuels are just over a century old. Production and development of thousands of new plastic products accelerated after World War II, so transforming the modern age that life without plastics would be unrecognizable today. Plastics revolutionized medicine with life-saving devices, made space travel possible, lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water.

The convenience plastics offer, however, led to a throw-away culture that reveals the dark side: today, single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such as plastic bags and food wrappers, have a lifespan of minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years.

Plastic pollution has become a pressing environmental issue. The rapidly increasing production of disposable products has overwhelmed the world’s ability to deal with them. Plastic pollution is most visible in developing nations, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or non-existent. But the developed world, especially in countries with low recycling rates, also has trouble properly collecting discarded plastics. Plastic trash has become so ubiquitous it has prompted efforts to write a global treaty negotiated by the United Nations.
Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world.

Plastics also can contain additives making them stronger, more flexible, and durable. These additives can extend the life of products, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years to break down. And then there are microbeads.
However, the good news is that Scientists have been working on the ability to breakdown plastics and have discovered: * Waxworms and Mealworms can devour plastics and turn them into compost.

* A microbe, Ideonella Sakaiensis can reduce the time plastic takes to degrade from hundreds of years to just a few days, * And some manufacturers are turning to plants to develop biodegradable bioplastics and to bacteria that convert food waste to natural bioplastics.
See this video from National Geographic : https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/101-videos/00000163-6503-de85-a16b-679316cc0000

Lesley McCarthy: ESRAG   

 

Make sure that you wear your Club colours proudly, regardless of whether your team made the finals or not. We will be looking for AFL Club beanies, scarves, and jumpers, plus anything else that will promote your team.

 

It will also be an occasion to eat your favourite footy fare during the meeting…pies, footy franks and hot chips, all with a liberal dusting of tomato sauce etc.

 

By necessity, the event will be a very much shortened version of previous years with some general knowledge thrown in.

 

It should prove to be a fun night, even though the actual AFL Grand Final will be held in Queensland this year.

 

Due to personal circumstances, the Assistant Governors (AGs) for Melbourne South East (Dr Hakim Gassiep) and Central Gippsland (Don Crewe) are unable to continue in their roles.

 

District 9820 wish to express their appreciation for the support and the work that both have done during the Rotary year.

 

Helen Lanigan from the RC of Maffra has been appointed as the AG for Central Gippsland and Colin Bryon from the RC of Greater Dandenong and Endeavour Hills as the new AG for Melbourne South East.

 

Both AGs have a wealth of knowledge and experience in Rotary and they will soon be in contact with each club to introduce themselves.

 

Helen can be contacted via the AG role email at centralgippslandAG@rotary9820.org.au and Colin can be contacted at melbsoutheastag@rotary9820.org.au.

 

Please welcome Helen and Colin to their new roles.