With thanks to Sustainable Highland Park and New Jersey Americorps Watershed Ambassador Michelle Hatfield, the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership is pleased to host a “Build a Rain Barrel Workshop” in Highland Park on Sunday May 7, 2-3:00 PM.

Space is limited, pre-registration required. We require a $60 donation to the LRWP for materials costs. The rain barrel you create will be yours to take home!

This “Build A Rain Barrel Workshop,” part of Highland Park’s Earth Day Festival, will take place outside in the parking lot behind Provident Bank between Raritan Avenue and Denison Street on the North side of highland Park at North 3rd Avenue (Provident Bank’s street front is 301 Raritan Avenue). Due to the Earth Day Festival and Highland Park Street Fair, please note that the special traffic patterns for the hours of 10 am to 4:30 pm in downtown Highland Park: Denison Street is open to traffic both ways all day. (Raritan Avenue is NOT open to traffic due to the Festivals).  You will find us on Denison Ave and N. 3rd if you are coming by car.

Rain Barrels contribute to green stormwater management, and are part of Highland Park’s Green Stormwater Management plan.

“Why Rain Barrels?

Take an active role in recycling rainwater – install a rain barrel at your house!  A rain barrel is placed under a gutter’s downspout next to a house to collect rainwater from the roof.  The rain barrel holds about 50 gallons of water which can be used to water gardens and for other uses.  Harvesting rainwater has many benefits including saving water, saving money on your bill, and preventing basement flooding.  By collecting rainwater, homeowners are also helping to reduce flooding and pollution in local waterways.  When rainwater runs off of hard surfaces like rooftops, driveways, roadways, parking lots, and compacted lawns, it carries with it pollution to our local waterways.  Harvesting the rainwater in a rain barrel is just one of the ways homeowners can reduce rainwater from running off their property and possibly causing pollution and flooding problems in local waterways.”