You probably already know just how precious water is, and how important it is to conserve it, but here’s something you could do to take that one step further. You can save water off of your rooftop with your own rain barrel system. Do you have a garden that needs regular watering? Then this is for you.

Check out this simple guide for how to set up your own rain catchment system. All you really need is one (or more) 55 gallon plastic barrels (or oak barrels, if you’re lucky enough to find them). The downspouts of your home can be adapted to direct into the barrels, giving you access to all of the water that falls onto your roof that would otherwise eventually enter the street gutter, which benefits no one.

If you have asphalt shingles, I wouldn’t drink the water that you collect (even if it goes through a water filter*, like all drinking water should), but gardeners will delight in having plenty of stores of free water for their vegetable plants.

Rain barrels are an effective way to practice water conservation at home!

If you’re not quite ready for this diy project, you can also purchase rain barrels from our Green Choices store.

*Link to sustainablog’s Green Choices store

Image credit: Flickr via super-structure