santa  fe  rain  barrels

Spring time has come back around, even though it appears that the weather is still deciding whether or not it is ready to leave behind the winter cold.  With the melting of snow and ice off our roofs, now is an ideal time to collect water, especially in anticipation of the possible dry months lying ahead of us.  Santa Fe Rain Barrels is back in full swing, providing rain barrels and other services to various stores and businesses in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque area, as well as individual clients.

Wholesaling is something that the business is very active in, and our wholesale market has increased greatly since its birth about two years after the beginning of the rain barrel business.  We currently wholesale to a number of nurseries and other businesses in the area.  Although the majority of our clients reside in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque area, we also wholesale to Taos, and an individual distributor in Las Cruces.  We offer our wholesale rain barrels at a discount price, as long as the buyer has a store or business and is buying at least twenty barrels at a time.  Anyone with a business in sustainability, landscaping, irrigation, and water catchment, can benefit from the interaction, as those who we are currently selling to have.  Wholesale rain barrels in Santa Fe and Albuquerque can be a good opportunity for many local businesses.  May we continue to develop our local economy and lead more sustainable lives.

For any readers that were planning to go to the Oshara Village Flea Market tomorrow, the 30th of May, to purchase our rain barrels, we apologize for any inconvenience but the fundraiser we had planned for will not be taking place.  There is still a possibility that the fundraiser will be held on a later date.  Despite there being no fundraiser tomorrow, we are still available with a large supply of barrels and other water harvesting systems, and can arrange for a delivery or pickup.

Water harvesting systems have grown tremendously in popularity in Santa Fe and other areas in Northern New Mexico.  Driving around Santa Fe during the day, one can see the tremendous amount of water harvesting systems in the homes of many of the city's residents.  Terra cotta rain barrels compliment the stucco colored houses throughout the city, and large tanks can be hard to miss standing firmly in the yard of some homes, many having a capacity of up to 4000 gallons!  Both rain barrels and tanks/cisterns are good ways to harvest water in the high desert that we live in.  However, for those that are wanting to have even less dependence on city water water, harvesting systems using tanks and cisterns are recommended.  These large water harvesting systems can be incredibly efficient and sustainable.  Some of them collect only rain water, which is directed into the tank or cistern with tubes coming from the canales.  Other water harvesting systems collect gray water from the household, which gets recycled back into the earth when plants are watered. 

The number of ways to design an effective water harvesting system is very large, and more creative ways are coming to be as sustainable living is more recognized for its importance in our lives.  However, no matter what particular method a person employs to collect water, it will always contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle.  Rather than using the limited supply of water that comes shooting out of our faucets, water harvesting systems allow us to consciously harvest the water that comes as rain.  By collecting the rain, we can replenish it back into the earth, and in so doing allow for less of a dependence on outside resources for survival.  As we continue to live more sustainable lifestyles we will have a more positive effect on the earth that we live on, and be able to replenish some of the resources that we have used up out of ignorance.

May we all live more sustainable lives!

With the moisture left over from the winter snows and warmer weather once again gracing the natural world, plants are coming back to life with much growth and energy.  The ideal conditions around us make this year appear to be a good one for various outdoor activities, landscaping and gardening in particular.  These great outdoor activities are beneficial not only for ourselves, but also our community and the environment in which we live.  They give us an excuse to be outside and get exercise, contribute to the natural beauty around us, and decrease our ecological footprint by removing some of the Carbon Dioxide emissions that are released when we drive our cars.  Gardening is something that has considerably developed in Santa Fe, and can be seen in the new Farmer's Market in downtown Santa Fe, as well as in the households of many locals.  Growing our own food, as well as other types of plants, is a sublime act in our society, and helps to support both a local economy and a healthy diet!

Sustainability is a critical factor for continuity of life, and can be seen in the way that plants get decomposed and recycled back into the earth when they are no longer needed.  This in turn gives life to another biological process.  By composting, we are able to cultivate healthy gardens, as well as eliminate the amount of biological waste that goes into the trash.  Santa Fe Rain Barrels offers custom designed composter barrels to help facilitate the process of gardening.  These composters are 60 gallon gray and black barrels, and set up in a way that allows for less time spent turning the compost and more time spent attending to plants.  We want to continue to attend to the needs of locals in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque area in regards to sustainable water and living.  May you collect the water and recycle the waste!

 

 

As the spring season comes to a near, rain barrels in Northern New Mexico will soon be back in full swing with the need for more gardening and watering of plants. This time of the year is a great time to plant new seeds, and in accordance with that, raising awareness on the environment and sustainability can open many doors for the year, as well as offer the possibility of making some money.  Santa Fe Rain Barrels has in the past sold rain barrels at a discount for non-profit organizations to hold fundraisers. This is beneficial to both parties as it gives us a chance to distribute our product and develop a better network of clients in the Northern New Mexico community, and gives those having the fundraiser a chance to make some money! People presented with the choice of buying rain barrels in Santa Fe and Albuquerque are more likely to do so in this setting as it benefits not only our business, but the cause behind the fundraiser and the community as a whole.

All ideas are welcome, and we will do our best to meet the needs of anyone wanting to make something happen. Whether it is to raise money for a school program, for a trip, or some kind of project, we are prepared to help. Please come to us for all rain barrel fund raising requests by contacting us.

The dawn of the year 2000 had many expectations leading up to it. Will it be the end of the world? Will it be the end of technology? Is it the beginning of a new era and consciousness? Similar to today´s 2012 doomsday speculations, the meaning and significance of Y2K had everyone around the world asking questions. People didn´t know what to think. Many people were afraid while others claimed that it was all just a big myth. As the time drew nearer to January 1st, however, the rumors got louder and those listening to them got prepared.

People driving by the back of our house off the main road of Eldorado in the year 1999 were occasionally greeted by a sign that read `Y2K Storage Barrels`, with a large amount of terra cotta barrels waiting to be sold, and my hopeful dad attending the many intrigued drivers that stopped by to have a look. The corner of our yard was stacked higher than the level of our fence with barrels, which we had unloaded from a full-sized semi despite the scrutiny from neighbors. Aside from that, the barrels smelled (and continue to smell) like garlic or peppers before getting washed out. We had hope that it would be worth all the trouble.

Needless to say, we didn´t have to send all the barrels back to where they came. People were buying them. Some for food. Some for water. Some to put pillows in and turn into a doghouse. Anything you could imagine. The Y2K hype was really working!

After the ball dropped and the parties died down, and people began forgetting about the Y2K new world which had been the only thing on their minds the night before, life went back to normal. It was only then that we really started to sell rain barrels as a way to store the water coming off people´s roofs. As the business started to grow, the city of Santa Fe got involved and granted us the right to give customers $30 dollar rebates on their water bill for buying barrels. We soon found ourselves delivering barrels to places outside of Santa Fe, and I became busier and busier getting orders ready for wholesale. The business spread to Albuquerque, and our methods of selling evolved with the number of barrels we were selling. It wasn´t as easy anymore to keep up with orders, so we were forced to find better and more efficient ways of preparing the barrels to be sold.

Today, after 10 years of selling barrels, the business has seen many changes. We now have a distribution in Las Cruces, NM, as well as the one we have had in Altanta, GA. We have many different sizes of tanks and cisterns, and they are all of various types and prices. The more people buy, the less limits we have in selling the barrels, and we encourage anyone interested, no matter where from or what is needed, to contact us.

The city of Albuquerque, although already big for NM, is continuing to increase in size and population. As the number of people using water increases, the level of Albuquerque´s ground water decreases at an even faster rate, signifying that water conservation must grow to match the demand for water. The earlier people conserve water, the more secure the future of our water supply will be, and we will be more prepared for any water-related problems to come. Rain barrels for Albuquerque and Santa Fe are always available to interested clients. As the demand for water increases, we hope to meet that demand with a reliable supply of barrels.

Hope we can continue to serve you, and happy 10th anniversary of Santa Fe rain barrels!

Growing up in a country like the United States with all of the little conveniences that many of us take for granted, can be both a great gift and a great detriment. Of course these things make our lives a great deal easier and less complicated, giving us more time and energy to educate ourselves and make a living in a somewhat quiet and stress-free atmosphere.  On the other hand, we are so reliant on these things providing for us daily, that we would not know what to do or how to live if something were to happen to them. What if our grocery stores ran out of food? What if the plant that provides electricity for our homes were to stop running? These are questions that may sound extreme, but which should not be dismissed. The days in which we rely on outside influences for our survival are coming to an end. What would we do if we turned on the faucet one day and nothing came out?

The state of California, after an unusual amount of draught, has recently begun to ration water in certain parts of the state, mainly for agricultural use. They say it hasn`t been this bad in 15 years, and don`t know when it will get better. I don`t know about you, but that sure gets me thinking. In New Mexico we are used to draught and not affected by it so much, but at the same time we are not growing the nation`s food supply! What would happen if California were to run out of water completely? That far-fetched imagination of grocery stores without food would not be too far from reality, I think, and people would probably begin to wake up and say ¨Hey, we need to do something about this!¨

In my travels and especially on my most recent trip throughout Central and South America, I have been amazed by how aware people in third world countries are regarding survival. They are used to having very little, and therefore always have a backup plan in the case that anything happens which jeopardizes their lives. The majority of them know how to grow food and raise livestock. They know how to build, and how to guard and maintain a steady supply of water in their homes. In times when the water doesn`t come out of their faucets, they just use the water saved in large tanks on top of their houses for whatever is needed. By always thinking of their survival, poor people all over the world are more prepared than the average priveleged but crippled Westerner. They know what could happen and prepare for it, while many of us are so used to having everything we need at the tip of our fingers that we do not consider the possibility of life without these luxuries.

Draught seems to be a growing problem in the world recently, and one of serious consequences. Without water, life cannot exist. That means that water is our most precious commodity for survival, and we must do all that is in our power to conserve it and make sure that we have a constant supply no matter what is going on around us. If we have a secure supply of water, growing food and doing other things to further a sustainable lifestyle can begin to unfold more naturally.

Nothing can be taken for granted. The situation of the world is currently at a very dangerous point, and nobody can be sure where it will lead us. All we can do is be prepared!

Santa Fe rain barrels can help to supply you with any of your water catchment needs on the path to a future of sustainable water.