Two of the most important things we can do for the environment are to reuse and re-purpose nonrenewable items;Â and to stockpile natural resources in times of surplus in order to have a supply in times of deficit.
One of the first natural resources you’ll think of with that type of ebb and flow is water. When the rain gauge is overflowing and the gutters are begging for relief, we watch thousands of gallons roll off our homes and into streams. Weeks later, we may be dragging the garden hose out to water vegetables or flowers. That seems ridiculous.
In the meantime, businesses and government cast off hundreds of tons of used plastic and other materials each year. Because these items are often designed for heavy use, they have far more useful life left than their disposal would suggest. Farms, industry, and other users discard, or sell off, used ibc tanks that can easily be re-purposed as home water storage vessels.
By identifying and taking advantage of opportunities like this, we can bring together waste reduction and water conservation by tying these two inefficiencies together and making a one-two punch for the environment.
To Be Green
As noted, we’re not just stockpiling a few hundred gallons of water. We’re also preventing the untimely disposal of a large item that is still in good condition for a variety of valuable purposes.
During the course of a summer, how many times might a typical family wash cars, water lawns, irrigate gardens and flowers, and otherwise clean up around their home? Each of those chores requires a good deal of water, and it’s a big savings at the water meter to store up rainfall for each duty and use it instead. This green knife cuts both ways!
To Save Green
It isn’t just municipal water that’s being saved, either. Plants around the home–be they ornamental or edible–are a significant investment. During times of drought, your city may mandate no irrigation in order to conserve a scarce supply. A green-minded homeowner won’t object, but the plants will.
During these episodes, you can easily lose several hundred dollars’ worth of vegetation for lack of water. On top of that, should that greenery include fruits and vegetables that you expected to eat, you’ll be out a higher grocery bill as well. By stockpiling water while it’s available, you’ll be able to keep your plants at least at a viable level of hydration that will see them through until the skies show mercy and take over.
To Avoid Green
Storing up water is pretty easy, at first blush. A kiddie pool, empty 5-gallon buckets, and lots of other containers can do the job, it would seem. But there are distinct advantages to utilizing these large containers instead. For starters, they’re larger. But what’s also helpful is that they can be closed off, sealing out contaminants that can spur the growth of algae.
Try washing your car with algae-riddle water. It’s pointless. You might as well go drive into a stagnant pond. These ibc tanks can be closed up and kept clean and clear for your future use.
Water storage is beneficial in much the same way as if you could store solar power in giant batteries on clear days for use when it clouds up. Thinking of it from that comparison can help you realize the value of this simple step, and it’s simple steps that are helping us clean up the world.
