Rain Barrels, An Environmental Solution

Coca-Cola partners with Tulsa Garden Center to bring this educational seminar to the community on July 31.

Tulsa Garden Center and Coca-Cola present Rain Barrels, An Environmental Solution, on Thursday, July 31 at 6:30 p.m. Alexander Riera of Coca-Cola will present this workshop on creating and utilizing rain barrels for water conservation. Mr. Riera’s workshop is part of Coca-Cola’s worldwide focus on water conservation. The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and their bottling partners announced that they are on track to meet their 2020 water replenishment goal to replace every drop of water used in their beverages and production to the communities. To date, they have replenished an estimated 108.5 billion liters of water back to communities and nature through 509 community water projects in more than 100 countries. In North America, through partnerships and projects, the Company has replenished more than 40 percent – nearly 14 billion liters – back to communities and nature since 2008.

Single families account for 55 percent of all water usage, and over half of this usage is for outdoor irrigation, making it the single largest usage of water. Methods for reducing this usage benefit our environment, and rain barrels are one of the most effective methods for providing water for irrigation purposes. Rain barrels capture rainwater that normally flows off a property and can conserve over 1,300 gallons per year. A thousand square feet of roof surface generates 600 gallons of water with one inch of rainfall. As Oklahoma enters another season of below normal rainfall, capturing rainwater and reusing it for gardening purposes becomes even more important.

Uncaptured rainwater that can’t be absorbed back into the natural watershed becomes stormwater. As development occurs in a watershed, more surfaces become impervious and aren’t able to absorb the rainwater and naturally filter it back into the streams and rivers. As this stormwater runs off impervious surfaces, it collects sediment that travels back into the streams and rivers that we depend on for our water and that support aquatic species. Removing this sediment uses other scarce resources and the sediment often is harmful for the aquatic species. Whatever rainwater is captured by rain barrels doesn’t become stormwater. For those advocating natural gardening methods, the use of captured rainwater provides a source of pure water without any absorbed chemicals from either treatment or ground contact, since rainwater is captured as it runs off the roof of structures.

Mr. Riera utilizes rain barrels in his own landscape and can help homeowners with the practical considerations of installing rain barrels and utilizing them for recycling rainwater. Proper placement of the rain barrels, integrating them into the landscape design, and the methodology of delivering the rainwater to the landscape will all be discussed. The workshop will lead participants in a step-by-step process of installing the rain barrel apparatus onto the empty barrel.

Pre-registration is required as Coca-Cola has provided 20 rain barrels and conversion kits for the workshop. The Tulsa Garden Center is offering the first 20 registrants the opportunity to purchase the rain barrels and kits for $20 (one per household) if they are Tulsa Garden Center members, or $25 if non-members. The rain barrel and conversion kit is valued at $120 to $140, and information will be provided during the workshop on where to purchase additional barrels and kits. This offer is limited to one per household. All other attendees or those that do not wish to receive a rain barrel and conversion kit may attend the workshop at no cost. The workshop will be in the auditorium of Tulsa Garden Center, 2435 S. Peoria Ave. at 6:30 p.m., July 31, 2014. Call (918) 746-5125 for more information or to enroll. Payment must be made at time of enrollment.

For more information, contact

Tulsa Garden Center

2435 S. Peoria Ave.

Tulsa, OK 74114

(918) 746-5125

www.tulsagardencenter.com