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On Earth Day and every day Rotary projects make an impact

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Members protect endangered habitats, plant trees, and clean up plastic waste

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Fifty-five years ago, the first Earth Day launched a wave of environmental action in the United States. Other countries soon began observing Earth Day as well. Celebrated on 22 April this year, Earth Day mobilizes people around the world to help preserve our planet.

Rotary added the environment as an official area of focus for our service efforts in 2020, but Rotary and Rotaract members have carried out environmental projects for decades. Rotary members around the world continue to find innovative solutions and take action.

Rotary International’s vision statement regarding the environment:

Together, we act locally and globally, using evidence to sustainably address shared environmental issues and foster harmony between people and nature.

Rotary’s approach to protecting the environment revolves around local, long-term service projects in three main areas: freshwater protection and watershed restoration; sustainable land use; and nature-based climate solutions. We recently partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme on a global environmental initiative, Community Action for Fresh Water. It empowers Rotary members to restore, protect, and sustain their local freshwater ecosystems.

The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers, the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group, the Rotary Action Group for Endangered Species, and the Food Plant Solutions Rotary Action Group all help Rotary members plan environmental service projects and build awareness of environmental issues. Rotary also has at least 40 eco clubs around the world that focus their service on sustaining the environment.

Members of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, and other volunteers plant prairie grasses along the Milwaukee River. The club led an initiative to transform industrial land along the river into an arboretum.

Here are just a few of the ways Rotary and Rotaract members are working to preserve our planet:

- In Taiwan, members are using global grants to create and improve habitats for little terns, purple crow butterflies, and tree frogs. These projects also educate people about why it’s important to protect local species and improve biodiversity.

- In Finland, 114 Rotary and Rotaract clubs are providing freshwater testing kits to schools, then sending the data that is collected to a national water resources inventory. Rotary members are monitoring blue-green algae at nearly 400 locations, and some clubs are collecting and classifying marine litter and identifying its sources. This helps protect local freshwater areas and the Baltic Sea.

- In Portugal, members are restoring habitats for endangered seahorses. Working with the Aglarve Centre of Marine Sciences and Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas on a scientifically rigorous project, they’ve been able to increase seahorse populations in protected areas.

- In the Netherlands, Rotary members are tackling the crisis of plastic waste. The EndPlasticSoup project, which started with a cleanup in the canals of Amsterdam, has expanded to more than a thousand clubs around the world. They collect and recycle plastics and raise awareness of plastic waste.

- In Egypt, Rotary members are renovating fishing boats to collect plastic and organic waste in the Nile River. They’re also helping women upcycle the plastic waste into marketable products.

- In Mexico, the Rotary Club of Valle de Iguala, Guerrero, and the Rotary Club of Tucson Verde, Arizona, USA, have constructed dams to control silt runoff, created a community nursery to help with reforestation, and provided technical assistance to reduce pollution in Lake Tuxpan.

- In Kosovo, members used a Rotary global grant to replace oil-fueled machinery, which creates pollution, with solar panels at the regional hospital in the city of Peja. The grant also provided environmental protection training to the hospital staff.

- Around the world — in the British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others — our members have taken on nearly 100 restoration, planting, and educational service projects to regenerate mangrove forests and protect marine environments.

Members of Dutch Rotary and Rotaract clubs remove plastic from canals in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 23 March 2019.

What you can do on Earth Day:

  1. Plant some native species or create habitat for bees and other pollinating insects

  2. Pay attention to how you use water and find ways to limit your usage

  3. Start a compost bin or find another way to compost in your community

  4. Bike, walk, or use public transit

  5. Turn off the lights when you don’t need them, and join the Million Solar Panel Challenge

  6. Find environmentally focused social media influencers to follow

  7. Switch from plastic containers to sustainable options like compostables and reusable water bottles

  8. Organize, or participate in, a litter cleanup

  9. Use reusable bags when you shop

  10. Follow the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group’s seminar series for learning opportunities

  11. Look for local opportunities to raise awareness about environmental issues that are important to you

There are many other ways you can help protect the environment on Earth Day and every day. Make a pledge today to fight for the planet in your own way.

Learn more about Rotary’s commitment to the environment.

— April 2025

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