DIY Rain Barrel

April showers bring May flowers, it’s true, and those showers can be pretty fantastic – and not just for your tulips and daffodils! Why not create a rain barrel to store that water? There are a lot of great reasons to create a rain barrel, including water conservation and saving money.

Our friends at http://www.rainbarrelsolutions.com/ have a lot of ideas about this very topic! Here are some reasons to create a rain barrel:

· Water conservation
o When you conserve water, you are not just helping yourself, you are helping your community and the planet.
· Saving money
o The primary advantage to using rain water over municipal water is that you are saving water and money.
o You can use the water you collect to take care of your garden, lawn and outdoor cleaning tasks.
o This means that even when your community is on a water restriction you can still water plants and your lawn because you are not using public water


Including a rain barrel in your outdoor classroom is a wonderful lesson for your children. You will be setting the examples of conservation in more ways than one, and you can use the water you collect for the plants in your garden! What’s not to like about that?

Check out the following sites for tips and instructions for creating your own rain barrel:

http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/03/how-to-make-a-rain-barrel/
http://www.diylife.com/2008/04/25/rain-barrels-made-easy/
http://greenterrafirma.com/DIY_Rain_Barrel.html