News from Greenmaker Building Supply: Since May 21, Greenmaker has been a hot spot offering rain barrels to Chicago residents.
To get a rain barrel simply stop by Greenmaker with a $40 check made out to the City of Chicago; the check MUST have a Chicago address. For all you suburbanites we have bad news: This offer is good for Chicago residents.
Read all about using rain barrels here in the online Rain Barrel Guide.
I purchased one of these barrels last year and it's been great. Does anyone know if the city still has any programs for low-cost composters? I know they had one a couple of years ago but I haven't seen anything about a program this year.
view Tobermory's profile
I heard that the Center for Green Technology for one day only will be selling $30 city-approved compost bins at their location on July 14. I believe the sale is from noon to 3 pm.
The Center is located at 445 N. Sacramento.
They're also very particular about that check policy. We went this weekend to get a rain barrel for our condo, but when we got there I realized I left my check book at home and they don't take cash, so we unfortunately left rain barrel-less
view chicagores07's profile
I would love to start collecting rain water, however my townhome association wouldn't approve of a big blue barrel in plain sight.
Does anyone have recommendations on where to find one that is a little less conspicuous? I like the Octagon 54 gallon from Clean Air Gardening, but $150 is too steep for me.
(http://www.cleanairgardening.com/barrel.html)
view Meg B.'s profile
I just love these cute ickle wickle rain barrels.
Now THIS is a rain barrel
www.waterwall.com.au/index.cfm?p=2115
view Deb of Oz's profile
We had two rain barrels at our old house in Milwaukee...And I have two warnings for midwest rain barrel users:
1. Make sure you empty it of water in late fall before it freezes. We didn't the first winter and then had a freak January rainstorm after a very cold December. The water from the downspout had no place to go, hit the ice in the rain barrel, splashed out everywhere, and we had flooding in our basement.
2. Make sure you have a very fine screen on the top to keep mosquitos from laying their eggs in the water in the summer. Make sure you keep the screen clean of leaves and debris so that the water from the downspout has a clear path into the barrel.
view avimom's profile
I'm in Seattle (where freezing isn't an issue!) and we've used rainbarrels to collect water for our garden for several years. Love it.
A little poking around the web will turn up a wide variety of rain barrel designs, from the utilitarian, reconditioned-barrel variety like the ones above to much less obtrusive designs that can sit flush against the wall. Capacity varies quite a bit as well.
view AngieK's profile