Water is something that's been taken for granted ever since the time of the first man. We all assumed it would be there whenever we wanted. Not True. We should all have a rain water barrel as this is the easiest way to conserve water. In a post I did on 5/17/09. I addressed the issue of the shrinking rain forests. They used to cover 14% of the earth's surface and now only cover 6%. This is a scary fact as information like this has only been tracked for the last few decades. Many aspects of our lives are dependant of the activity of the rain forests. I've also addressed the issue of composting in posts I did on 8/27/09 and 10/21/09. Again, this is one of the easiest ways to help the environment. It used to be a very messy and smelly process years ago. Today, there are pieces of equipment that can be purchased very inexpensively to assist in having a more sanitary composting process. In one of the composting posts, I mentioned Leonardo DiCaprio's commitment to the "go green" movement and how he included living green in as many phases of life that he can. I'm sure that he incorporates the use of a rain barrel as part of his involvement. A 8/6/09 post was on eco-friendly packaging materials. A good percentage of the materials were made from recycled materials.
I remember visiting my grandparents when I was little. They made use of rain barrels decades ago. Part of the reason they saved water was due the hard economic times they grew up in and part was due to the fact that clothes washed in rain water kept them very soft. My grandmother also used the rain water to wash her hair. It always smelled good and was very soft to the touch. Her barrel was very different from the ones that are out today. She had the old wooden barrel with the metal staves. It was very tall and always covered to keep debris out.
