What is a Rain Barrel?

What is a rain barrel you say? Well, it's pretty self-explanatory. A rain barrel is a wooden, plastic or metal bin of anywhere from 30 to 120 gallons. Rain barrels sit under your gutter run-off, and collect the rain as it comes off your roof. After your barrel collects the water, it goes through a filtration process and can be used for anything from watering your garden to flushing your toilets. Rain barrels are very effective. You can have more than one, and ideally, you'd want one for each gutter run off eventually.

Most rain barrels run by gravity. Although, sometimes, you might need an extra pump to help the water move though the pipes/tubes. One of the most attractive things about using rain barrels to be greener is the low cost. A good rain barrel will set you back about $39.99, or as high as a couple hundred dollars - but the cheap ones are just as good as the pricier ones. Granted, the more you pay, the better the quality – also, larger barrels tend to cost more.

So if these wonderful barrels are cheap and save you money, why not join the green revolution and get yours today?