The return of rain barrel rescue
As a follow up to Grady's Rain barrel rescue blog post, there was an interesting article on Tuesday regarding changing the state building code to install concrete rainwater tanks in homes--for flushing toilets, for instance. According to the article:
Dan Tingen, chair of the Building Code Council and also a homebuilder, indicated an initially favorable reception to the idea.
"It's absolutely forward thinking, and I would expect to sometime have those provisions in North Carolina," said Tingen.
[...]
"We're to the point as an industry that we recognize we've got to save and we've got to create new, innovative ways of preserving water," said Tingen.
In
addition to conserving water in a state that often sees the need for
water conservation, the tanks would save money by lowering water bills,
eliminate using processed and purified water for things like flushing
toilets, and reduce stormwater runoff (an increasingly important issue in North Carolina).
In my comments on Grady's comment about rain barrels, I wrote that my "big Idea" was to require developers to submit plans on how they were going to reduce environmental impact from the paved surfaces created in new developments. Included in my statement was a proposal that cities require new homes to have at least one rain barrel. I hope that this goes further and gains statewide (eventually nationwide) acceptance. When my husband and I built our garage we had to submit plans. When someone is going to build new homes, offices etc. that impacts the earth and other citizens much more than our garage did. Why should builders be exempt from environmental protections? The only way we can save this planet for future generations is to ALL be accountable to the same rules- NO EXEMPTIONS or EXCEPTIONS FOR ANYONE!!