photo courtesy: RainJars.org
Community activism is alive, well and thriving in our beautiful city. Organizations run the gamut in their missions, from helping the homeless to promoting small businesses or creating local food networks. Tucson is also blessed with a population of environmentally conscious folks who actively support wise-use and resource conservation initiatives for our desert habitat.
An upcoming community event in that vein is the Tucson Rain Jar Project (RainJars.org). Launched with a grant from PRO Neighborhoods, the project is a prime example of how concerned Tucson citizens make positive changes through volunteerism and active community participation.
Like local luminaries Brad Lancaster (Tucson’s rainwater harvesting guru) and the Watershed Management Group (WMG), the folks involved in the Tucson Rain Jar Project work together on a neighborhood level to bring design skill and know-how to residents and businesses who want to do their share to conserve and promote the wise use of our precious desert resources.
The rain jars are rainwater cisterns made of ferro-cement (cement and lime). Borrowing from rainwater harvesting techniques used in Thailand, the Tucson Rain Jar Project volunteers create inexpensive, one-of-a-kind containers and offer their services to the general public.
“The jars come in 2 sizes – 1000 liter (260 gallons) and 2000 liter (520 gallons) capacity,” according to Natasha Winnik, owner of Originate Natural Building Materials. “They can be finished in different ways, and are very aesthetically pleasing.”
The Rain Jars crew is currently a group of nine folks (Dave and Sarah Hunter, Ian Fritz, Aja Knaub, Tina Hansleben, Turtle Southern, Omar Ore-Giron, Mark Wilkening and Winnik) who “wanted to learn if the rain jars would work here.”
Eventually, PRO Neighborhoods was approached for a grant to be used for building rain jars in various locations and spreading the word about the program.
“The building materials for the jars are inexpensive, plus the jars themselves can be more decorative and a better aesthetic fit in more historic neighborhoods,” says Winnik. “And we’ll be putting everything we learned up on the website that people can reference to do it in their own neighborhoods.”
Check out rain jars in Dunbar Spring, Blue Moon Barrio and Blenman Elm during the Tucson Rain Jar Project Home Tour on Sunday, December 12. Self-guided tours from 1pm-4 pm; bike tour starts at 2:30pm. It’s a free event, and you can pick up maps at 903 N. 10th Ave. (Dunbar Spring neighborhood) or 2817 E. Waverly (Blenman Elm). A celebration with refreshments will follow at 903 N. 10th Ave.
