A Young Innovator's Mission to End Plastic Waste
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF April 21, 2025
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: A Young Innovator's Mission to End Plastic Waste
Speaker: Steffek Rainey
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday, our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
To properly attend this meeting, please:
Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
Complete the attendance survey.
Everyone is encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Message from our President
Welcome Members, fellow Rotarians, friends, and guests. Thanks for joining our weekly meeting!
WEEKLY FUNNY WITH SHAGS
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
Swallowing a Coin
The kid had swallowed a coin and it got stuck in his throat, and so his mother ran out in the street yelling for help. A man passing by took the boy by his shoulders and hit him with a few strong strokes on the back, and so he coughed the coin out.
"I don't know how to thank you, doc..." his mother started.
"I'm not a doctor," the man replied, "I'm from the IRS."
INSPIRATION
Naver is a South Korean company using robots at one of its building in a way that you might find intriguing. Consider that the country is one in which the birthrate is far below the replacement level, and figuring out how to deal with a smaller workforce is a challenge for it and countries in the same boat, such as Japan, China, and several Eastern European nations.
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
Healthspan: How to Live Longer AND Better!
In this episode of "Talking with Docs," join us as we delve into the fascinating concept of healthspan and its profound impact on enhancing the quality of life.
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PROGRAM: A Young Innovator's Mission to End Plastic Waste
SPEAKER: Steffek Rainey
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
Our speaker, Steffek Rainey, is an innovator deeply committed to sustainability, with a focus on developing ventures that encourage everyday people to participate in impactful environmental change. A student at Harvard, Steffek is exploring cutting-edge design and engineering principles to create solutions to significant societal challenges like plastic pollution and climate change. Before joining Harvard, he founded an award-winning company dedicated to reducing plastic waste through innovative product design. Steffek’s designs have been recognized by the US President and EPA and he has been twice voted a People’s Choice Student Entrepreneur.
Steffek Rainey’s journey is not just about creating a product—it’s about creating change. He shares with us how a single idea turned into Evera Bottle, a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics, and how his advocacy for a cleaner world has challenged industries, inspired communities, and redefined what it means to be a young innovator. With stories of struggle, resilience, and breakthrough moments, this talk is a call to action for everyone to think about how they could change the world with one simple idea. Because the future doesn’t belong to those who accept the world as it is—it belongs to those bold enough to change it.
Members and guests, please welcome Steffek Rainey!
To learn more, go to:
https://www.everabottle.com/
To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:
http://rotary.cool
Our Three Podcast Series
Our main program speakers are available as podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week, they are available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
Or you can click below for this week’s speaker:
The Weekly Rotarian
Inspiring Solutions
And our original podcast, featuring some of the best of our previous speakers, is still available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Development Success Stories
Our third podcast features success stories about economic development from around the world. It is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or you can click below.
UPCOMING PROGRAM RECORDING SCHEDULE
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
THE ATTENDANCE SURVEY
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.
We have a very short attendance survey below for you to fill out to record your attendance.
Visiting Rotarians, this is how you can get an email receipt to pass along to your club’s secretary as proof that you’ve attended our meeting if you need it for makeup.
Non-Rotarian Guests, we would love to see who is dropping by our meetings! This part is optional for you. If you think you may want to join our eClub at some point in the future, we would strongly recommend you fill out the attendance form as it will improve your chances of success for your membership application.
For all members and guests — we strongly recommend and ask that you leave a comment in our comments area below. Tell us how you enjoyed the program. Ask this week’s speaker any questions you might have. Or just stop by and say hello and tell us where you’re from!
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