Rainwater harvesting is the use of rain for things like watering plants and trees in your yard (in “rain gardens“), instead of letting it run off. Sometimes the best things in life are free.

This is an ancient, inexpensive, and effective sustainability practice that is used around the world. It’s brilliance is in its simplicity. Nature and gravity do all the work.

Rainwater harvesting is well known in drylands such as the desert in Tucson, AZ where I lived, but can be very helpful in many regions. Areas with heavy rainfall and flooding may benefit as well.

You may have heard of “xeriscape” and “drip irrigation”, but this takes things one step further.

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