Rain barrels are in high demand, according to the executive director of Greener Village in Fredericton, following a fundraiser for the local food bank.
Alex Boyd said the idea to sell rain barrels to raise money for the food bank came to them in 2020, but due to the pandemic, the group delayed the fundraiser. He said he wasn’t sure how successful it would be this year given the COVID-19 restrictions.
However, the demand rose so fast, Boyd said they had to add another delivery date. About 300 rain barrels, enough to fill a full transport truck, were bought through the fundraiser.
“It really has taken off,” he said in an interview Thursday. “We were able to fill a tractor-trailer load of rain barrels, and we had such a high demand that we’re actually doing a second delivery.”
Boyd believes the demand is due, in part, to people’s recognition of water as a vulnerable resource and this is one way to manage it. He said people are home more due to the pandemic and are turning to find ways to source water for their foods and gardens.
He said the funds raised from this will go toward the food bank’s operational fund to keep service levels where they need to be. So far, he said, despite the pandemic, the community has shown up for those in need.
Andrew Holland, a spokesperson for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, said it has been promoting the use of rain barrels since 2016 and calls them a small act of conservation.
In New Brunswick, rain often comes in large downpours and follows dry spells, and Holland said that means the rain doesn’t irrigate the soil or plant life very well.
Using the rain barrel, or water found in nature, and not well water or municipal water sources is more sustainable, he said.
“By having a rain barrel, it’s a great way to use some of that water on your property and help your lawn, your gardens, your flower beds, your native plants and shrubs, and that’s especially the case during the pandemic,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Anyone who wants to purchase a rain barrel should visit Greener Village’s rain barrel webpage, which can be picked up on June 12.