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I don’t live in a particularly ‘foggy’ location, but for others, misty mornings or evenings are a regular occurrence. Harnessing this moisture for drinking water is something I’ve seen talked about via DIY sites and magazines — but this is the first modern product that looks to seriously get the job done.

Created by Alon Alex Gross — this fog collector was designed to specifically collect drinking water in arid and semi-arid regions. According to Ecofriend, it usese a “2 meter mesh surface which can collect up to 10 liters of water in 24 hours. It can be used at any time of day and needs to be facing the direction of the wind for maximum effect.”

Gross also developed a dew collector that can net you about 1.5 litres of water per night. Jump here to take a look at additional photos. No word yet on price for either products — or if we’ll even see them available at local outdoor shops — but here’s to hoping that Gross takes the idea that much further.

Yesterday, after I vented a bit on the lack of rain barrel options at Big Box stores, a reader tipped us off to a very interesting issue in her state of Colorado. Rain barrels there, you see, are outlawed. Colorado state law mandates that any water falling from the air is not yours. In fact, according to their site, its already been “legally allocated” — so, you don’t actually have any rights when it comes to using precipitation that falls on your property. Here’s the exact wording:

Colorado Water Law requires that precipitation fall to the ground, run off and into the river of the watershed where it fell. Because rights to water are legally allocated in this state, an individual may not capture and use water to which he/she does not have a right. We must remember also that rain barrels don’t help much in a drought because a drought by its very nature supplies little in the way of snow or rain.

Additionally, any and all water that comes from tap may only be used once. “Denver water customers are not permitted to take their bath or laundry water (commonly referred to as gray water) and dump it on their outdoor plants or garden.” Even if that said water is ecologically-friendly?

We’re not alone in thinking this is a stupid law. Last summer, The Colorado Springs Gazette said the following:

“The rain barrel is the bong of the Colorado garden. It’s legal to sell one. It’s legal to own one. It’s just not legal to use it for its intended purpose. Meanwhile, when rain does fall, the torrential flood caused by water running off a few thousand acres of roofs, roads and parking lots erodes downstream ranches, undercuts city sewer pipes and really makes Pueblo mad.

It’s gotten so bad that the city is taxing us all — excuse me, feeing us all — to pay for $295 million in stormwater projects. So wouldn’t it make sense to save a little rain when it falls, keep it from barreling down Fountain Creek, and use it when needed? Of course it would.”

So, to the people of Colorado, I’m sorry you have to deal with such inane laws. Not having any rights in the first place to something that freely falls over your head just seems bizarre.

Anyone out there actively breaking this law because it’s lame? Anyone ever seen it enforced?

A few weeks back, I wrote an article detailing my desire to pick up a rain barrel to save some water for my garden. Living in the Northeast makes one rather immune to all the issues experienced by those living in drought-prone areas — particularly the hard-hit Southwest.

I posed a question then to those living in these areas as to whether or not their “big box” stores* like Home Depot and Lowes carried rain water cachment systems. The general response was fairly negative — though some reasearch of my own has discovered efforts by these chains to offer some support; whether through instructions (Lowe’s instructions were great — but they’re gone now) on how to create rain barrels using in-store items or pre-assembled kits.

The problem, however, is that availability or support on this level varies from store to store. There isn’t a real company-wide initiative to stock or have on hand pre-assembled rain barrels. Try going to either Home Depot’s or Lowe’s online stores, type in “rain barrel”, and see what you get. Nothing. (Interestingly, go to Home Depot’s Canadian site, and you at least get the option to purchase a “Rain Barrel Pump”.)

Not stocking pre-assembled rain barrel kits is in my opinion a fault in the judgment of big box stores — especially in those areas where water conservation is championed on a daily basis. Most people I know are not DIY individuals — in fact, we’ve been raised to expect everything pre-assembled and ready to go. Patience for such projects is hard to find — and it would be much easier to plop fully functional barrel under a spout than spend an afternoon drilling, gluing, and placing A into B.

Plus, let’s be honest, people have a certain degree of aesthetics when it comes to how their homes look on the outside — especially in suburban America. Buying a garbage can and retrofitting it into a rain barrel might not pass muster with a majority of people bent on homes straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. The pre-assembled kits that are out there — or coming — are much more attractive. Personally, I could care less on the looks, but I’m assuming that I’m in the minority on that.

So, what to do? Well, if you live in those areas, try to pressure your stores into carrying more rain barrels for the masses. That, or shop locally. I’ve found many local stores carrying rain barrels where other chains will not. But in terms of pushing water conservation to the masses, it’s your Lowes and Home Depots that ultimately may have the largest impact. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another year of drought to communicate that idea.

* Not to just pick on Home Depot and Lowes, Walmart and Target also do not carry said product.

This summer, I plan on adding a water catchment system to my home. Unlike other part of the nation, Ithaca, NY isn’t necessarily thirsty for H20. Nevertheless, I feel like it will reduce my dependence on municipal services and give me a nice source of rainwater for my garden.

There are many different ways to do this. One of the nicest examples — that comes with its own DIY instructions — is the catchment system courtesy of designer Michelle Kaufman’s blog. They list all the materials you’ll need — as well as some nice Martha Stewart touches you can make to beautify your conservation efforts.

Interested? Have a look here.

AP via Raw Story:

Two hours north of New York City, a mile-long stream and a marsh the size of a football field have mysteriously formed along a country road. They are such a marvel that people come from miles around to drink the crystal-clear water, believing it is bubbling up from a hidden natural spring.

The truth is far less romantic: The water is coming from a cracked 70-year-old tunnel hundreds of feet below ground, scientists say.

The tunnel is leaking up to 36 million gallons a day as it carries drinking water from a reservoir to the big city. It is a powerful warning sign of a larger problem around the country: The infrastructure that delivers water to the nation’s cities is badly aging and in need of repairs.

This is one of those stories that makes one either want to be extra diligent to turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth, or frankly, not give a shit anymore.

Congestion taxes are very noble, but maybe Mayor Bloomberg could redirect his energies towards fixing infrastructure.  Perhaps the subject isn’t as popular as emission reduction, but he could make a world of difference for future New York City residents, and fix that damn leaky faucet!

I found a great image (there’s a “maps” theme running through Groovy today) that shows what Antarctica would look like without the current layer of ice. For the human race, we may actually see this sooner than later due to climate change, but back many millions of years ago, Earth naturally was warm enough to prevent such ice sheets from forming on the continent. There was plenty of beach front property.

Most interesting, the current think blanket of ice actually pushes down on the land mass causing it to sink below sea level. With the ice gone, a process caused isostatic rebound (coupled with sea level rise) would give it the above shape. The below image best reflects what the continent looks like today with all that force exerted, before isostatic rebound. 

It’s time for another exciting round of Bobolink! The contestants this week are:

Epicurious and their idea on how to throw a green party.

The Ocean Legacy group has a video game out instructing those of us not up on all the ins and outs of fishing on how fishing is going on now. It’s not a few guys with poles anymore.

Here we have an interesting video featuring magicians talking about bottled water.

Finally, we have this interesting link to a city in Massachusetts that is using green technology to save money, save the world, and create jobs. Is that a win…win…win? (Make sure to watch the video)

Now Groovy Green readers, I’d like you to leave a comment on which one of these 4 links you liked the best. Not because we’re having a contest or anything. Just because I’m curious.

Via Artdaily:

Giant plastic bottles line the Tieté river in Sao Paulo, one of the city’s most polluted rivers, as a reminder about the dangers of non-biodegradable garbage.

Perth made the news recently because they built a large desalination plant to help meet their water needs. One good thing I can say is that they were concerned about the environmental impact of this plant, and decided to run it off a dedicated wind farm. But where’s the water conservation? Where’s the greywater recycling? It seems to me that water conservation should go hand in hand with building a new desalination plant, as they mention on the video. Of course, if the expected plants in American get built we’ll have to make sure to compare them to this one to see if they are built to the same standards.

Slate recently had an article about recycling blackwater. Recycling blackwater is good, but we also need to focus on greywater. Greywater could be used onsite multiple times, which is something that needs more exploration. Not to mention rain catchment systems, but that’s a story for a different time.

President Lincoln’s summer home by Washington D.C. recently announced that they are the first environmentally friendly historic landmark in America. Follow the jump for more info.

I don’t know about you, but I always appreciate more info about eco friendly clothing options. We were recently turned on to Artifex Shirts which features all organic cotton. The Oxygen Required line features clothing made from bamboo. They both sound like winners to me.

My brother alerted me to this diesel car from Germany that is reported to get 150 miles to the gallon. Looks interesting but I don’t think my whole clan would fit in it.

This story is so ironic that it deserves to be highlighted here. Brooklyn Farm Table builds tables from reclaimed wood from old NYC buildings that are being torn down in the name of “progress”. Three years ago they lost their factory location to that warehouse of fine furniture, IKEA. So, a local company handcrafting very nice looking furniture, from reclaimed wood, was booted for a foreign company that focuses on selling particleboard crap. Only in America. But, Farm Table has resurfaced. Check out their site. They have some absolutely beautiful furniture.