What's This Rain Barrel Made Of?

We had the pleasure of attending the New Mexico Solar Fiesta at the end of September. What a wonderful experience. It is so satisfying to talk to so many people who understand the need to conserve, whether it be energy or water.

Our booth was full of visitors almost non-stop for the whole two days of the event. We always get some interesting questions and I love answering them. A couple questions I hadn't heard before were, "Can dogs knock these rain barrels over?" and "Are your rain barrels bullet proof?"

A more typical question is "Are these made from recycled plastic?" The answer is no. First, if they were we could not offer the colors we do. Our rain barrels are made to last for years. I think items used once such as yogurt containers or disposable razors should be made from recycled plastics. Items made to be useful for years justify new material.

Our rain barrels are made from virgin High Density Polyethylene(HDPE). Some very interesting information has come out in the Sept.5, 2005 Plastic News. There is now a system of measuring the environmental impact of design materials. The system, Okala ecodesign course, (Okala means life-sustaining energy in Hopi) assigns points to materials used in products. The higher the number of points, the higher the environmental impact. Recycled HDPE is 13, virgin HDPE is 25. Recycled aluminum is a 24. So as you see HDPE is right next to recyled aluminum. The highly-polished stainless steel in favor now has a rating of 130!

So the next time you question yourself about just how "green" a product is, it may be better than you think! Come take a look at ours, www.aridsolutionsinc.com

New Mexico
rain barrels
recycling
environmental impact
sustainability
water conservation