I thought it might be fun to post conservation type tips every once in a great while and maybe drum up some conversation about simple things we can do to limit our footprint and help extend our budgets and make use of our natural resources in a better way. And how is that for a run-on sentence? I know. I’m awesome like that.
No matter where you live, you get rain. Even in the Middle Eastern deserts, they get rain two days a year. In many countries water is turning out to be as controversial and mishandled as any other valuable resource in the past. People who live in third world countries with plenty of rainfall seem to be those who never get it’s benefits. That is an entire discussion all on it’s own, but it made me look at my water differently.
I live in the Midwest United States. We get rain. Gobs and gobs and tons and tons of it. Our ditches swell and the sump pump in our crawl space does double and triple duty come spring.
I have never tried to make use of that water. It just flows down off our house, down our gutter, and out to the ditch. It comes and then it’s gone.
And then we get our summer water bill and get all frustrated.
Hmmm. It got me thinking and then I dismissed it for a while thinking, Surely it isn’t that much water to make a noticable difference in our water bill come summer.
And then I heard the numbers put forth in this video.
1/4 inch rain falling on an average family home yields approximately 200 gallons, people.
That is completely nuts. But in a totally cool way. So much for me thinking it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
I am new to this whole thing and I haven’t constructed a rain barrel yet, but I very much would love to hear feedback.
Do any of you have a rain barrel? If so, does it work well? Anybody else think rain barrels are for hippy chicks and their long-haired boyfriends? If so, I want to hear from you, too.