Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Girl Scouts Turn Trash Into Gold

The Kansas City Star has a story about a really awesome idea - Girl Scouts in Overland Park are repurposing used recycled car wash soap containers into rain barrels and selling them! A rain barrel is a water tank which is used to collect and store rain water runoff, typically from rooftops via rain gutters - basically devices for collecting and maintaining harvested rain. Rain Barrels are installed to make use of rain water for later use, reduce water use for economic or environmental reasons, and aid self-sufficiency. Stored water may be used for watering gardens, agriculture, flushing toilets, in washing machines, washing cars, and also for drinking, especially when other water supplies are unavailable, expensive, or of poor quality, and that adequate care is taken that the water is not contaminated or the water is adequately filtered.

In Overland Park, KS, 55-gallon plastic barrels are donated by a local car wash, which would normally end up in a landfill - then Troop 930 clean them and fit them with a spigot, strainer and overflow outlet. And then they sell the barrels for $55 each. The money they earn will help fund their Gold Award projects. Those Girl Scouts - Always Thinking!
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