Posts Tagged ‘Water Conservation’


Johnson upper elementary, rain barrels and compost special guest Speaker

Friday, May 18th, 2012

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Recently I got the opportunity to be a special guest speaker at Johnson upper elementary thanks to Julie Thompson, leader of their PTA. One of my favorite things to do is talk to kids about water conservation, reuse, composting etc. The questions they ask are priceless and I also make sure to ask them a lot of questions too. In my day to day I forget sometimes what it was like in middle school. When your attend school dances and feel awkward and actually I “rebeled” as my parents would say, refusing to join any school teams but rather spend all my hours after (and sometimes during) school skateboarding. I still skateboard and it has given me a perspective that I would not otherwise know. When I arrive at the skatepark you have kids of all ages interacting it’s their park. Like it’s their park… This is our earth and we all have to take care of it. If we don’t teach kids the importance of green living then it will surely die. In a throw away society, water that just magically flows out the tap, soil which you buy at a store are winning. It’s time to change that, and change starts with the kids.


Salem United Church of Christ… Farmington Founders Festival Rain Barrel Workshop…

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

On Saturday, July 16 around 10AM, there was activity starting to take place in the parking lot outside of Salem United Church of Christ in Farmington, MI. The church is located in beautiful, historic downtown Farmington and has been around for over 100 years. Susan Nickels, on behalf of Salem, contacted Maxi Container, and we worked together to prepare a Rain Barrel Workshop to coincide with Farmington’s Founders Festival. Susan organized the activity with the help of her daughter Danielle. We originally started out with a tentative order for 50 barrels. The response was so great that on the day of the workshop, we were expecting over 80 people.

Once people started to gather in the parking lot, it was time to start assembling the rain barrels, to talk with them about water conservation, and how to use their new rain barrels. I came prepared with an assistant, Charlie Ryan, who is a Farmington Hills native. Charlie helped lead the workshop with me. In no time at all, we had a full-blown assembly line in progress.  As we were working, more and more people showed up. Many people saw the activity in the church’s parking lot and asked if there were any rain barrels left.

Though we brought ten extra rain barrels, it was not enough. The response was so overwhelming, even the two barrels Maxi donated to the church were sold. Susan and Danielle were ecstatic at the outpouring of attendees for this first time event. Maxi would like to formally thank everyone at the Salem United Church. We would especially like to say thank you to Susan and Danielle Nickels, for making this event happen. From fruition to finish, it went wonderfully and we hope to work with them again.

Don’t worry, we replaced the two donated rain barrels as a thank you for the church hosting the event. We hope to work together in the future on more GREEN events with them.

Enjoy these photos from the event!

If you are interested in having Maxi work with your non-profit or organization to help educate people about Rain Barrels and water conservation, please contact Richard via email: rick@maxicontainer.com

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Sierra Club Rain Barrel Workshop – Detroit, MI (Brightmoor) 4/9/11

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Rain Barrel Workshop - Sign Up
Last weekend the Sierra Club Great Lakes Program hosted a Rain Barrel workshop on Detroit’s west-side in the Brightmoor neighborhood. The workshop was organized by the Sierra Club’s own Melissa Damaschke to teach fifty Detroiters, who had signed up for the event, all about water conservation’s benefits, and of course how to make a rain barrel. After all of the participants arrived, Melissa explained the workshop and then separated everyone into groups. An experienced Rain Barrel “Guru” led each group in the making of the Barrels. After all the drilling, caulking, and installing was done, the group discussed their plans to save rain water and for use in their gardens. It was an educational experience and fun afternoon project.

I had my video camera on me and have created a video showcasing the workshop, hope you enjoy!

For More Info on the Sierra Club Great Lakes Program please visit these links:

The Michigan Citizen wrote an article about the event, download it here.