UK Drought Powering Boom In Rainbarrels, Water-Saving Tech- Reuters

[hatrack]

LEEDS - A drought gripping large swathes of Britain is proving a bonanza for Straight, the UK's biggest supplier of water conservation bins. Straight is struggling to keep up with surging demand for its plastic containers and water conservation tools as, despite recent downpours, parts of Britain face the most severe drought of the last hundred years.
The company, also Europe's number one supplier of recycling bins, is hiring staff for its call centres, stepping up orders -- at times for a 40 percent higher cost -- and considering acquisitions in the midst of a boom in demand for its environmentally-friendly products.

The government's efforts to improve Britain's status as one of the worst recyclers in Europe have sparked municipal demand for kerbside containers. In southeast England, the area hardest hit by the droughts, demand for water butts - plastic containers to collect rainwater and condensation - has increased tenfold.

"We are not scared to invest," Jonathan Straight, the company's chief executive, said in an interview on Wednesday. "What we have seen this year with water butts is unprecedented."

Last year, sales of water butts made up 8 percent of overall sales of 24.3 million pounds. With hosepipe bans in place in Britain affecting more than a fifth of the population, sales of the little green containers common in gardens have already rocketed. Straight, who got involved with so-called green issues in the 1980s, combined his interest in recycling with a fascination with what he called the "black art" of plastics manufacturing and eventually built a 30.5 million pound (US$57.37 million) company.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36534/story.htm

[CottonBear]

1. My city gives free rain barrels to citizens! I just got one last month.

They give rain barrels for free on a first come-first served basis. The event takes place twice a year. They also give away free water conservation kits for the home (toilet tank bladders which displace water, water saving sink aerators and water saving shower heads.)

Public Works organizes the rain barrel program and Public Utilities is in charge of distributing the water conservation plumbing kits!

:)