We were talking to neighbors one day when one of them asked, "What's with the barrels."
Us (earnest): They're rain barrels.
Them (wary): Ooohhh.
And I get that, I do.
Rain barrels seem to be synonymous with hippies and mosquitoes (and therefore West Nile.) But behold the future of rain barrels.
Essentially, you buy one of those bad boys, pop him under your downspout and collect rainwater for use in your garden and yard.
You stop the rain from running off to where it's not supposed to be (places other than here) and use rain to water your yard instead of using highly treated tap water that's way purer than it needs to be for your yard.
The versions The Conservation Foundation is selling are 55-gallon ones with taps to connect your hose to and overflow valves so it doesn't overflow. Those nifty barrels were used to house olives or olive oil. (Still smell pleasantly like it.) So you're already reusing when you buy one.
Don't like the color? A quick coat of paint (we used a rough texture, forest green spraypaint) had it looking like it was manufactured with green plastic in no time.
The lid screws on and has screening to prevent mosquitoes.
There is no bad here. You're going to save money on your water bills and help the area's watershed.
And they're cheap. The Conservation Foundation is only charging $75. They're a Will County-based nonprofit trying to save the area's open space and rivers. And they're making real progress. At Planet Natural, you'll pay $235 for a very similar model. Makes you wonder if it's you or your plants getting soaked.
We love our rain barrels, especially since we haven't figured out if our outside spigots work at all. We're not so sure that the neighbors do. One of them went out of his way to tell us that if he had such a barrel he'd hide it behind his house and we'd never ever see it. (For the record, our barrel isn't ugly and isn't in the front of the house.) The message was clear: He doesn't like seeing it. Well, my message is clear too: Using up all of our water to keep nonnative grasses alive so we can feel good about our lawns isn't good for us or the planet.
Would you use a rain barrel if it were more affordable? Or would you be one of the neighbors wishing the darn things would go away?
Barrel o' conservation
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It's summer watering season. It's time to bite the bullet and get a rain barrel. Really. If you read my diatribe informative entry about rain barrels here, you know their benefits. But maybe you don't think they're attractive enough. Gardener's... Read More
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Julie Todd
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
Julie,
Just wanted to let you know that the Will-South Cook Soil and Water Conservation District sells rain barrels too. We are located at 1201 S. Gougar Rd. in New Lenox. We also sell water test and soil test kits. Our number is 815)462-3106 ext 3.
This is further proof that dialogs are the best way to get information. I didn't know they were available through you guys. And that's a MUCH better drive for folks that live a bit south of me. And, as you probably already know, you can't get two rain barrels into a lot of cars, so cutting down on the drive length can save a lot of money and resources when you're getting rain barrels.
Thanks!