Our Commitment to Rain Barrels and the Environment

This is our third year selling rain barrels, and we love it! Each year our numbers have grown. Recently we have expanded our relationships with environmental advocacy groups, like the Sierra Club Great Lakes Program, with community gardens like Project Grow (Ann Arbor), as well as with numerous schools.

On April 14, 2012, we are working with the Sierra Club Great Lakes Program and The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy to sponsor Rain Barrels on the Riverfront, the first ever rain Barrel workshop and sale on the Riverwalk. We will be donating two rain barrels to be installed on site as well, demonstrating how to disconnect your downspout and install your rain barrel. On April 23, 2012 we are attending Family Science Night at Anchor Bay Middle School North in New Baltimore. Here we will have a chance to talk to Middle School children and their parents about the benefits of rainwater harvesting and our rain barrels. These benefits include:

• Reducing the large volume of water flowing to the sewer treatment facility
• Lowers the percentage of roof top rainfall thus reducing urban stormwater runoff
• Backup source of water during times of drought or between rain showers
• Helps to keep our Great Lakes (beaches, creeks, rivers etc.) clean
• Naturally soft water – ideal for delicate houseplants, auto cleaning and washing your hair
• Saves you money by lowering your water bill
• Reduces the need for additional tax dollars earmarked for sewer expansion
• Chlorine-free water helps maintain a healthy biotic community in the soil
• Educational tool for teaching residents about water conservation

We do a lot of events to promote the use of our rain barrels, working with schools is my personal favorite. As I have seen with my own children, if you learn about protecting the environment as a child, you will probably be an adult who embraces a green life style. If you know of a school that has a need for a rain barrel or a composter, who is interested in creating a curriculum that includes composting and rain water harvesting, please give me a call at 313.891.3880 or email.

Sign up for “Rain Barrels on the Riverfront” here.

Our Rain Barrel

More posts coming Soon!

RainSaucers Have Arrived, No Downspout Rain Water Catchement Solution

RainSaucers are here from California and they are the next generation of off-downspout rain water harvesting. You can attach this to almost any container, great for disaster relief. Besides emergency preparedness rain saucers compliment homes or garages without gutters and allow you to place a rain barrel almost anywhere! (If you are planning on attaching your RainSaucer to a non-standard container, contact info@mirainbarrel.com for details)

Rain Saucers are made from food grade plastic and are UV resistant. Gardeners will love the ability to add extra water sources in strategic l0cations around their yard with Rain Saucers. Check them out in our store.

Workshops for Everyone

Often I get asked about how difficult the workshops we hold are, to this I always answer:

“Fun for the whole family!’

No matter your ability level we welcome everyone to our Rain Barrel Workshops, we make sure to be able to accommodate kids and seniors as well as all ability and skill levels.

Soon, we will be taking this ideal to the next level, making rain barrels accessible for all ability levels including people with disabilities. The entire gardening community needs to embrace the idea that gardening should not only be for the “fit” or “active” types but accessible for all. This is a long uphill battle that has been going on for a while, after talking with Ava HaberkornHalm the Sports and Recreation Coordinator for the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living my eyes were opened to a entire way of thinking that I must admit I was not used to.

Learn more about the A2 CIL at http://www.annarborcil.org/

By strategically placing garden beds with concrete walkways between them and at a certain height to allow for wheelchair access. As well as multiple water sources conveniently located and now, Rain Barrels! the CIL’s community garden (which is absolutely free) is a wonderful place that provides enjoyment for many. By donating and educating about rain water harvesting and using our rain barrels we hope to positively affect the lives of those who attend and help the community garden, by making the rain barrels accessible (at a certain height) all who frequent the gardens will be able to use the rain barrels.

Later this month, we will install and conduct a Rain Barrel workshop at the CIL and hope that people from all neighboring communities, all ability levels will join us and learn about the benefits of rain barrels and their many uses. You can sign up in advance, or just show up. The event is free to the public and you can by your barrels in advance for $50 on this website and donate an additional $5 to the CIL. They also have a bus stop in front the building to make it easier for those without a vehicle to get to the CIL

Sign up for this workshop (and all of our workshops) at http://mirainbarrel.com/signup (or just click “Sign Up” at the top or your screen)

Hope to see you there!

Rain Barrels on Belle Isle, GoLightly

Recently I got the opportunity to install 11 rain barrels on Belle Isle. This unique opportunity to get involved with the Detroit Public Schools, GoLightly AgriScience techinacal / vocational center and their gardening program. Located in the middle of the Isle, GoLightly is a single classroom with multiple greenhouses attached. You can find it across from the Belle Isle Aquarium. They even have an aquaponics setup!

At the end of June I joined them for their annual plant exchange and discussed Rain Water Harvesting, Rain Barrels and more! Later, I followed up to finish the install.

Overall 11 rain barrels in 5 locations on the GoLightly premises. They will save over 525 gallons of water every decent rain shower!

Check out all of the photos here!