When I got this question I thought, “What a great softball question. I’ll kick this one out in no time.” Actually, I don’t talk like that in my head, it actually went something like, “Awesome, this will be easy, and then I can leave early.”

But much to my surprise, finding a rain barrel in Northeast Ohio is no small feat. I started like any good consumer with calls to local home and garden centers and quite often got the “What’s-a-rain-barrel?” response.

From there I had the awkward task of explaining that in fact a rain barrel is a barrel that collects rain. At least once we got that far I was able to espouse all the benefits of a rain barrel like: using a rain barrel lowers water bills, decreases water demand and is better for plants and vegetables (less chlorine and fluoride).

From that I would often get a “huh” or “cool” — I could almost hear the gears moving in their heads thinking, “That’s not a bad idea, perhaps we should carry rain barrels?” Or at least that’s what I hoped.

Back to where one can find these simple yet ecologically brilliant tools—in my well-meaning but not exhaustive search of local and big box retailers I found a very few that either have or plan on having rain barrels in time for the planting season.

Here’s a quick list: Heights Garden Center, the Home Depot (Cleveland Heights only), and Ohio Bio.

Of course, if you are so inclined there are a plenty of Internet sites that offer rain barrels of every size, shape and cost.

http://www.thecomposter.com, http://www.sprucecreekrainsaver.com, http://www.watertanks.com, http://www.watersavers.com, http://www.envirolet.com, http://www.rainbarrelsandmore.com, http://www.bayteccontainers.com

For those who feel like something as simple as ‘a barrel that collect rain’ should be well within reach of constructing on your own, you can make your own rain barrel using a large trashcan, agricultural supply container, or other food-safe container.

As you can guess there are a host of how-to-manuals and even local workshops on rain barrel construction. Most supplies can be purchased at a local hardware stores and it’s worth checking grocery stores or the Internet for reusable barrels. Installation simply involves disconnecting and then cutting off a portion of the downspout redirecting it into the top of the barrel.

As residential irrigation accounts for 40 percent of domestic water consumption and a simple 10 percent improvement in efficiency of water delivery could conserve enough water to double the global amount available for drinking—I suggest calling your favorite garden center and providing a gentle push to include rain barrels with the array of lawn chairs and electric fountains.