Small Acts of Conservation: Collect Your Rainwater!
— by Shannon Hogan
A quick and easy way to save water is to collect it! And what’s more conservation-oriented than saving water?!
Every Cortes local is more than familiar with our rainy autumns and winters. Our springs are typically rainy too, but sometimes spring decides to act like summertime. Everything heats up rather quickly, completely drying out our little island. By August, we always seem to find ourselves in a drought.
By saving some of the rainfall water from the wet months, we can rest easy about watering our garden all summer long without the worry of drying up our wells. The easiest way to do this is to set up a few rain barrels underneath your eavestrough’s downspout. After heavy rainfall, the rain barrel will be full before you even know it! The size of your garden will determine how big or how many rain barrels you’ll need. My garden is quite small, so I decided to start with only one rain barrel.
A couple of things to keep in mind when setting up your rain barrel: make sure you have a screen cover for your barrel to let the water in but keep debris out and also make sure your rain barrel has a faucet for connecting your hose to make filling your watering can easy.
Feel like learning more about collecting rainwater? Follow these links:
● https://rainwaterbc.com/
● https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/rain-barrels.aspx
● https://www.crd.bc.ca/education/water-conservation/at-home/outdoor-water-use/rainwater-harvesting
We would love to hear about and post your Small Acts of Conservation Kindness on your property! Please submit your short story and tell us something fun about your project by reaching out to us at: friendsofcortes@gmail.com.
