UPCYCLE RAIN BARRELS
            Seed catalogs come in the mail. A sunny day and temperatures slightly above freezing start us thinking about planting, gardening, landscaping, and lawn care. Only considerable snow cover and cold frozen ground holds us back.
Now is the time to plan. If you did not get a rain barrel as a Christmas present, you can purchase one from the Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District. Stop in the District office, USDA Service Center, 1620 South Galena, see one, find out more, and order. New orders will be accepted anytime. Call 815-235-2161 ext. 3 for details.
The rain barrels on sale now are from a company called Upcycle Products, Inc. whose logo says: “Reinvest in the Environment.” Our District gets them from a warehouse location in Minooka, Illinois. These barrels are 55-60 gallon converted food product barrels that have been sanitized, assembled with a rain water input, overflow, and drain spigot. Each barrel has a screw-on lid fitted with screening to prevent entry of leaves and debris. The rugged rain barrels stand 35-40 inches high and are available in terra cotta, grey, and black at a very affordable price.
“The term UpCycle is generally a reinvestment in the environment,” explains Upcycle Products on their website: www.upcycle-products.com. “In the simplest terms, upcycling is the practice of taking something that is thrown away and repurposing it into something of greater utilization and intrinsic worth, in its second life.”
Food companies in the U.S. receive the barrels as containers for shipment of overseas products from other countries when those products are not in season here. Recycling the high-density polyethylene from which the barrels are made is costly and, usually, the used barrels are sent to a landfill. Upcycle collects from a five-state area. The company reports: “The rain barrels we sold in 2008 kept nearly 160,000 pounds or 80 tons of plastic out of landfills in the Chicagoland area. This tonnage also equates to nearly 160,00 cubic feet of landfill space.”
Upcycle also makes composters from the recycled barrels and potting benches from recycled discarded Western Red Cedar and White Cedar fencing. The recycled fencing is also used for the framework of the tumbling composter and the pedestals. They announce on their website that they are also “coming out with a vinyl automatic diverter of our own that is made from recycled vinyl fence pieces.”
In other ways Upcycle supports good environmental practices by effective use of water and fuel, and CFL lighting. They collect rainwater from the roof of their building to wash and rinse rain barrels. They use PH neutral soap to wash the barrels.
Find out more on the Upcycle website or from your Soil and Water Conservation District. Products can be obtained from twelve Districts in Illinois according to the website.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 01/13/10 for publication on 01/16/10 in the Journal Standard, Freeport, Illinois) Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org