HONESDALE, PA — We use reservoirs to catch and store our most precious resource, but what can one person do to help conserve water? The Wayne County Conservation District revived an old idea: the rain barrel.

It updated the idea with the use of recycled materials, a youth participation program and fundraiser, and came up with “Every Drop Counts—Use a Rain Barrel.”

District Watershed Specialist Jamie Knecht explained what happened for the county commissioners on January 22.

She said rain barrels were not new to the conservation district. In the past the district distributed them, “until the market got flooded,” she said.

Knecht began working on a new idea in 2012, and last year the two districts produced a spectacular rain barrel revival, employing 16 used 55-gallon polyurethane drums that had contained bulk pasta sauce.

The barrels were cleaned and painted in basic primer colors, then distributed to high school arts and environmental students at Honesdale, Wallenpaupack and Delaware Valley schools and the Canaan Christian Academy. The students were asked to decorate them with water and conservation themes.

The students created varied, meticulous, colorful designs on their rain barrels, which were displayed in the schools and later, with explanatory rack cards, in partnering businesses. The barrels, fitted with taps and drains, were sold in a silent auction at the district’s Earth Day program. They raised almost $1,000, which will be donated for environmental education at the schools, Knecht said.

As the conservation district account reported, “It blossomed into a tremendous educational outreach opportunity that expanded to include the entire community,” including some 20 organizations. In addition to the four school districts, 12 local businesses in Pike and Wayne counties and the Downtown Hawley Partnership took part.

Last fall, the Northeastern PA Alliance recognized the effort. The alliance is composed of: the state environmental agencies, DEP and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the PA Environmental Council, PP&L, Proctor and Gamble Paper Products Inc. and Wilkes University.

Their Environmental Partnership Award is given for “forging environmental partnerships and bringing participation and stewardship to Northeastern Pennsylvania environmental resources.”

For more information on the project and to view the barrels students created visit www.pikeconservation.org/EveryDropCounts.htm.