The average roof will shed over 5,000 gallons of water during the summer months! Rainbarrels and cisterns collect clean rainwater from your roof so you can stockpile it when it’s plentiful and use it later during a drought. A quarter inch of rain on a one car garage will fill a 55-gallon rainbarrel. Rainbarrels are great for watering small areas by hand, and can even be painted to match your decor.

The MA Dept. of Environmental Protection offers subsidized rainbarrels through two companies.  Prices start around $65. Contact New England Rainbarrel (phone: 877-977-3135) and Sky Juice New England (phone: 207-363-1505), or follow the links below to learn more.

The following Greenscapes Partnering Communities participate in the MA DEP rain barrel program...follow the links for ordering information:

• Agawam
• Andover
• Beverly
• Danvers
• Hingham
• Marshfield
• Plymouth
• Quincy
• Salem
• Topsfield
• Wenham