Meeting Recap- January 30

Visitors:          

George Harmon, , professor emeritus at Northwestern University and a potential new Rotary member - guest of David Birkenstein

Bob Smith, newly appointed Executive Director of the Winnetka Park District and potential new Rotary member -  guest of John Thomas

 

Thanks to Ned Meisner for the pre-lunch music he provided with his piano skills.

 

John Thomas encouraged members living in Winnetka to consider volunteering for membership on the Village Caucus Council.  If you want more information contact John.

 

Our week’s speaker was Frank Avila, a civil engineer with a Master’s in Finance who is an elected Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Cook County.  He told how all of our human wastes are removed and treated from the sanitary sewers of the county before the water is returned to the waterways.  His message was that we ingest and put on our bodies too many chemically laden products.  These toxic chemicals must be removed before our waste water can be put back into the environment.  Even anti-bacterial soaps contain dangerous chemicals that flow through to their treatment plants.  The biosolids, which can be used for fertilizer and to enhance soils can be delivered to park districts, but due to arcane state laws they can’t be sold or given to residents.