So I hope you have your rain barrels up and functioning. If they are already full, get more barrels or open the spigots and fill up all of your watering cans.
And if you don't have any rain barrels, the obvious question is Why Not?
Rain barrels collect and save rain, which provides wonderful pure fresh water for plants and landscapes. A rain barrel will save most homeowners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months.
Which means, of course, that rain barrels save money by allowing homeowners to use rainwater rather than tap water, cutting down on utility bills.
If you make your own rain barrel, you are saving space in a landfill by keeping a nice big plastic barrel out of there.
Rain barrels also help prevent stormwater runoff which can pollute our waterways.
To encourage more property owners to reap these eco-friendly benefits, many local Maryland and D.C. government programs offer discounts as an incentive to get even more of these water savers into backyards across the DC region. Some of these programs are listed in our previous post How to Earn Green by Going Green.
For information about buying supplies and instructions to build your own rain barrel, visit my previous post on rain barrels.
