Earth Day turns 41 this year, and it falls on Friday (Good Friday) — April 22. We hope not to overdose on the abundance of Earth Day-related stuff over the course of the month of April – as you know, we support being kind and gentle to Mother Earth every day – but we figured we’ll support the whole “awareness effort” by doling out a healthy serving of earth-friendly tips – One A Day for the next 22 days.

Tip #1: Although water’s becoming scarcer all the time, and we can’t live without it … hope springs eternal.  Prepare for April showers – capture that rainwater and use it. Be sure to clean those roof gutters, too, for maximum results. There are lots of good rain barrels to choose from – here are a few of our favorite water-saving devices to help preserve & reuse this precious commodity:

• the Cascata Rain barrel
• easy to store – the Collapsible Rain barrel
• rain barrels made from recycled plastic
• a little gadget from Clean Air Gardening: the Drought Buster Downspout rainwater distributor; $24.99