Rain barrels are again in vogue

COLLECTIVE THOUGHT: Beverly O’Keefe, owner of Rhode Island Water Lady, a small business that sells rain barrels, stands next to one she has installed at home. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
COLLECTIVE THOUGHT: Beverly O’Keefe, owner of Rhode Island Water Lady, a small business that sells rain barrels, stands next to one she has installed at home. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

When it rains, some people aren’t content to just let all that water fall to earth – they’re collecting it in rain barrels.
“It saves water, but it’s also about making people aware that water is a precious resource,” said Tim Cranston, North Kingstown’s water-quality specialist. He coordinates the town’s water-barrel project.
That environmental awareness is important enough to the town that it subsidizes $25 of the $75 cost of the rain barrels, so residents get them for $50.
In the year-and-a-half since the program began, about 250 property owners in North Kingstown have become rain-barrel owners.
The program grew from the town’s groundwater committee, which has a simple mission of public education.
When municipal representatives talk to students about environmental issues, rain barrels are in the conversation.
“We go to schools, typically in third-grade classes, and talk about water and … if they’ve seen rain barrels,” said Cranston.
The North Kingstown program was implemented with the help of Beverly O’Keefe, whose small business, Rhode Island Water Lady, in South Kingstown, sells rain barrels in collaboration with the Great American Barrel Co. in Hyde Park, Mass.
“Beverly has been in the industry quite a while, in other positions, we’ve known her and we liked the idea of rain barrels,” said Cranston. “Most people go pick up their rain barrels from Beverly, but if someone is elderly or it’s a difficulty in any way, she will arrange for it to be delivered.”
North Kingstown’s rain barrels became a local focus on May 3 when the town sponsored a community event for residents to bring their rain barrels and personalize them by painting them. A small group of people participated, just one part of the educational mission to encourage residents to be aware of and protect natural resources, said Cranston
“People use that water mostly for vegetable or flower gardens,” said Cranston. “It helps people become more aware of all of our bodies of water in Rhode Island and our fisheries.” North Kingstown is just one of the municipalities O’Keefe works with in encouraging and supplying rain barrels. She also works with Middletown and the Pascoag Utilities District and has collaborated with Woonsocket and Newport.
O’Keefe’s rain-barrel business grew naturally from her involvement in the University of Rhode Island’s Master Gardener program in 1999 and her former work as a supervising planner with the Rhode Island Water Resources Board.
“When I first came onboard, there was a drought in the state and one of my responsibilities was the drought-management program,” said O’Keefe. “Part of my job was to work with suppliers on their water-supply plans.”
When she heard about rain barrels in 2001, she took to the idea right away. She started buying a few for herself and fellow master gardeners and after a couple of years, found that other people wanted them. She found she could cut the cost buying them in bulk.
She started her business in 2008 just covering the cost of taxes and shipping and a small profit margin of $10 per barrel, but the mission was as important and the profit.
“The rain barrels meshed with New England frugalness and my philosophy of sustainability,” said O’Keefe.
“At first I tried to teach people how to make their own rain barrels, but I found out people are too busy and they prefer to have the rain barrel already set up,” she said.
The 60-gallon barrels had previous lives containing olives and capers, said O’Keefe.
“I work with a food importer near Boston. They bottle the capers and olives, then the barrels are washed and converted into functioning rain barrels,” said O’Keefe.
“Holes are drilled to install a faucet, as well as overflow fitting and screening material between the lid and the barrel to keep mosquitoes from getting into them,” she said. “You can just connect your hose to the rain barrel and water your garden.” Displaying her wares at festivals, partnering with local utilities and community groups and spreading the word about the importance of sustainability, the Rhode Island Water Lady has distributed about 8,000 rain barrels in the six years of her business.
While O’Keefe works in Rhode Island, nearby towns in Massachusetts are also enthusiastic about rain barrels.
North Attleboro also gets its supply from the Great American Rain Barrel Co.
“We first got rain barrels when we got a grant from the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection about seven or eight years ago, so the town subsidized the cost,” said Michele Bernier, Solid Waste Department director. “We got that grant for several years and gave out about 20 or 30 barrels a year at a reduced price.”
North Attleboro had a lapse in the program for a couple of years and has just relaunched it, without a grant, and is taking orders for the $69 barrels. A town event will center around the rain barrels when they are picked up on July 9.
“It’s a well-liked program and we want to foster it. We’ve had some people calling and asking for rain barrels,” said Bernier, who finds them to have a traditional Americana appeal.
“For me, I think it’s a product of my father and mother being children of the Depression,” said Bernier. “They saved and used everything. They wouldn’t just use a resource without thinking about it.
“When I was a kid growing up, we had two rain barrels. My father just made them and put a spigot in them and we attached the hose,” she said. “We had a greenhouse and my father had a very large garden.
“I have a rain barrel at home and it’s wonderful. I know many people in town have them,” said Bernier. “I haven’t checked my water bill closely enough to see if it’s decreased, but it’s just as much about protecting our resources.” •

No posts to display