At the Park District of Franklin Park, we have implemented many ways to be environmentally friendly. Now, we want to share these tips with you! Once a month, we share one environmentally friendly tip that will teach you how to be kind to our planet. Our fifth environmentally friendly tip is save water by using rain barrels.
Rain barrels and cisterns are storage containers designed to collect stormwater. For rain barrels, that water is typically collected from a roof. For cisterns, that water can be from a roof or a surrounding surface such as a parking lot. Depending on the size, they can hold anywhere from 15 to 5,000 gallons of stormwater, which comes in handy during times of drought.
Capturing and reusing rainwater can help reduce the water bills, especially when homeowners have installed multiple rain barrels. During the summer months, it is estimated that nearly 40% of household water is used for lawn and landscape maintenance.
The Benefits:
- Encourages water conservation.
- Re-uses rain water saving water usage & money.
- Reduces runoff.
- Captures runoff before it has a chance to pick up pollutants that end up in nearby waterways.
Click here to learn how to install your own rain barrel!
