Solana Beach Eco Rotary Club builds climate resilience locally
In an era of shifting climates and ecological challenges, the Solana Beach Eco Rotary Club (SBECO) in San Diego operates with a driving purpose: to transform environmental awareness into community-led action. While many Rotary clubs focus on traditional humanitarian aid, SBECO has carved a unique path by educating themselves and their neighbors on how to implement tangible solutions for a healthier planet.
SBECO Rotarians truly enjoy nature and are regular stewards of the 125-acre San Dieguito County Park and its Native Trails. They participate in watershed cleanups and habitat restoration projects of San Diego’s coastal estuaries, lagoons, and bays. These projects, along with their Native Seed Libraries, teach communities how simple strategies can combat biodiversity loss.
“SBECO proves that when Rotarians unite for the environment, the impact ripples across the entire ecosystem.”
Furthermore, the club is leading the charge for a California state pollinator license plate, which will fund pollinator education and habitat creation statewide.
SMRT Gardens offer sustainable solutions for polluted stormwater
SBECO’s commitment to education and the environment is best seen in their SMRT (Stormwater Makes Retained Treasure) Garden within the park. This project started when one of the club members won a small grant in a Stormwater Pollution Challenge from another local non-profit. As longer droughts and larger storms affect San Diego, existing storm drains are often overwhelmed, leading to flooding and substantial pollution problems at the beach. The SMRT Garden offers a solution and more.
SMRT Gardens are innovative street-side and parking lot gardens designed to manage stormwater by channeling runoff from pavement directly into garden bioswales. The native plants within these gardens utilize the collected water to grow, while they simultaneously clean and replenish groundwater.
Raingardens and bioswales are not a new idea, but by locating them next to streets and parking lots and incorporating native plants, they make highly effective solutions to polluted stormwater, biodiversity loss, and climate change. By integrating these gardens into underserved urban neighborhoods that often flood, are less green, and more polluted, several environmental and community benefits are realized.
“SMRT Gardens can be outdoor classrooms and settings for citizen science projects.”
Benefits of SMRT Gardens include:
- Flood mitigation and prevention of erosion by reducing stress on storm drain infrastructure.
- Cooler urban spaces that help reduce urban heat island effects.
- Wildlife habitat that supports native plants and biodiversity.
- Pollution reduction through phytoremediation of water and air.
- Climate change mitigation through carbon storage.
- Improved quality of life through increased access to green spaces.
- Economic value and greater community pride.
- Education opportunities through public signage and citizen science activities.
Community partnerships strengthen environmental education efforts
Because SBECO had a long-standing relationship with San Dieguito County Park, the Park Ranger enthusiastically encouraged a SMRT demonstration garden. He gave the club a piece of unused parkland filled with non-native weeds at the bottom of a long road and across from a parking lot. They were given permission to divert water off-road, away from the storm drain, and directly into the garden.
A skilled landscape designer volunteered to help make the garden both functional and highly attractive. Through a series of community events, volunteers dug dry stream beds and bioswales to collect rainwater from the road and parking lot.
Luckily, they encountered two extraordinary atmospheric rivers that delivered unusually high rainfall, allowing them to test and adjust the bioswales while the garden was being created over several months. They added plants and special features to attract pollinators, including fallen trees, bee hotels, bat boxes, and debris piles. They also added a small science station with a temperature monitor and rain gauge.
“Community groups are already requesting talks about how to create SMRT Gardens of their own.”
As the finishing touches are being placed in the SMRT Garden, a website has been created to help others create similar solutions in their communities. Park signs will go up in the next few months, and the club plans to host scouts and citizen science projects at the garden.
Rotarians expand environmental impact through zero-waste initiatives
One of SBECO’s most impactful contributions has been their role as a “Green Consultant” for the wider Rotary family. Recognizing that large club events often generate significant waste, SBECO assists other Rotary clubs and organizations in developing comprehensive Zero-Waste plans for events.
They guide partners through the logistics of waste diversion, ensuring that service projects and fundraisers leave a minimal footprint. To make these plans a reality, the club provides reusable dinnerware sets for community use at no charge, offering a practical alternative to single-use plastics and paper products.
The club’s presence is felt far beyond their meeting room. Whether hosting vibrant booths for families at park festivals, holding lithium battery collections, planting trees, or delivering presentations at the San Diego Fair, SBECO serves as a vital resource for ecology, climate resilience, and biodiversity.
Their influence reached wider audiences during San Diego’s inaugural Climate Week last year, where the club sponsored an inspirational film and expert panel focused on reducing industrial waste. Looking forward, SBECO’s global footprint continues to grow, as the club is set to present their innovative projects in April at the 2026 Earth X Conference, one of the top sustainability conferences in the world.
Building Bridges Through Rotary expands cross-border environmental collaboration
Recognizing that local issues have global implications, SBECO is partnering with Rotarians around the US and Mexico border to help launch a bold initiative called Building Bridges Through Rotary to address the Tijuana River Pollution Crisis.
Rather than just removing debris, the club is focused on creating a circular economy model by finding ways to transform recovered plastics and tires from the river into useful resources. Profits will provide financial incentives to divert waste and create new jobs.
SBECO demonstrates how Rotary clubs can unite communities around environmental stewardship, practical sustainability solutions, and long-term resilience.
