Water Butts & Barrels Blog

Firstly, let's acknowledge the majestic simplicity of a water butt - an ingenious reservoir for harvesting rainwater. With each shower, every drizzle, and even during thunderstorms, Mother Nature provides us with this pure, untapped source of H2O. By collecting rainwater in a water butt, you gain an invaluable supply to nourish your garden, saving the precious water from your taps for tasks that genuinely require it. Trust me, the joy of self-sustaining your plants while cutting down your utility bill is beyond gratifying!

We'd like to emphasize the fact that during periods of extreme heat, your water butt might only provide a limited supply of water for up to three days. While this might not sound like much, understanding this limitation is crucial in managing your water usage effectively.

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Did you know that a typical household collects around 24,000 litres of rainwater in a single year? Think of the collective impact we can make as an environmentally responsible community!

During hot weather periods, water availability can be a challenge to maintain. One way to save rain and ensure adequate water availability in your garden during these heatwaves is to install a water butt. A water butt is an excellent way to store rainwater, saving it for the hotter days ahead. With a water butt, you can keep your garden green and beautiful even during the most extreme weather conditions.

Step into your garden oasis and embrace the harmony of nature with the majestic 250L Barrique Oak Wood Effect Water Butt Barrel! Are you ready to quench your plants' thirst in the most stylish and efficient way?

   

Top Ways to Have A Sustainable Christmas

From Nut Roasts to Nutmeg, There Are Plenty of Ways To Have Your Greenest Christmas Yet

This year is the perfect opportunity to start living an eco-friendly lifestyle, with Christmas coming up there has never been a better time to focus your efforts on all things sustainable. There are many ways in which you can make your Christmas the greenest one yet, whether big changes or small, you can make a difference.

Sustainable Wrapping Paper (or fabric)



Christmas wrapping paper is one of the more prominent items amongst the store shelves leading up to Christmas, but it seems awful wasteful to spend money on an item that is designed to be discarded. What’s worse is that some wrapping paper can’t be recycled, and those that can be aren’t always produced using sustainable paper sources.  So, whenever you can, always try to purchase an FSC certified wrapping paper, or alternatively you can utilise reusable wrapping materials such as fabric (and save them again for next year!). Sellotape can’t be recycled, so using a fabric wrapping makes even more sense.

Gifts That Last



Similar to wrapping paper, gifts have become disposable in nature to so many people. When purchasing a gift, it’s always worth considering how long the item will last, or if it serves a long-term function.

If you can’t find any gifts which are long lasting you can always consider pre-loved items. Many charity stores will have treasure troves of used and unused items on display, so you’re sure to find a bargain or two, plus you have the benefits of saving a bit of money and helping a charitable cause. You can also re-gift previous ones you have received, there’s always going to be someone who can make use of those unwanted gifts!

Why not turn your hand to making something homemade? Nothing says thoughtful more than going through the effort of creating something yourself, plus you can reuse and recycle old items lying about the house for fresh new purposes.

Alternatively, you can opt for an eco-friendly gift, or a product which will enable a friend or family to start living a sustainable lifestyle.

Eco-Friendly Gifts



There are plenty of eco-friendly gifts available, with many being beneficial in everyday life. Wormeries are a great project to start if you love gardening, they can be a prime source of vermicompost (the most effective type of compost), and they’re educational for the young ones too.  

A water butt will help supply your garden with water, so you can save money on water bills all the while helping to save the planet! Water butts don’t have to be plain either, there are many types which will find themselves perfectly at home within your garden, from clay effect water butts, to water butt planters, there’s ample choice to fit your style.

Our range of VegTrug products make gardening much more accessible, with easy to reach planters for any size garden, you can start providing your own home with fruit and veg in no time. These natural looking yet stylish products are sure to make a great gift.

Decorations



LED lights require less power than traditional bulbs, so if you’re looking to decorate your tree consider using them for an eco-friendly alternative. For many decorations you can go the DIY route, if you’ve got children this is a fantastic chance to get them involved too! Compostable decorations are becoming more and more popular, with dried oranges, bay leaves, and more working together to create an aesthetically pleasing garland, which smells nice too! A wreath is also easy to construct, with almost everything you need to make it being found amongst nature.

Sustainable Tree



You might be wondering just how eco-friendly a Christmas tree can really be? This is a reasonable concern to have, with the answer not being as clear cut as you might think. We all like to try and live as sustainably as we can, so even a small change such as swapping out one Christmas tree for another, can make a big difference. We have an entire guide about choosing a sustainable Christmas tree here.

Recyclable Christmas Cards



Similar to decorations, you can also make your own Christmas cards from scratch, all you need is some eco-friendly card to get started. If you want to make it even more festive you can use some eco-friendly glitter, as the normal type isn’t recyclable. If you’re not that crafty you can also get hold FSC certified cards much easier than you used to be able to.

Food Waste



It’s no secret that Christmas day is notorious for producing vast amounts of food waste, but there are solutions to this all to common problem. The first and most obvious one is to simply reduce the amount of food you purchase in the first place; however, this isn’t always easy to do. So, if you do find yourself with more food than you realised there are several options available to you.

Adding your food waste to a compost pile is one way to dispose of it in an eco-friendly manner, and if you don’t have space in your garden for a large composter you could always use a kitchen-based composter such as a Bokashi Bin or Junior Wormery. For those with a bit more space in the garden there is the Aerobin, a hot composter which can produce usable compost within 12 weeks!

Vegan Christmas



One of the best ways you can help the environment is by switching to a meat-free diet. While there are no strictly defined practices of veganism, the core tenets of the belief include living in a way which avoids exploitation and cruelty to animals, this can be through food, clothing, entertainment, or any other purpose which requires animals. There are plenty of vegan options available these days, it doesn’t all have to be tofu and nut roast! The UN states that meat and dairy livestock account for 14.5% of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions. This is roughly the same amount as all transport (car, ship, plane) emissions across the planet. Switching to a plant-based diet can cut emissions massively.

We can't wait for the 2021 gardening season to get going and, as days get longer, it no longer feels far away. So, with the help of Original Organics, how can we all become better (& greener) gardeners this year?

Take a Swing at Vegan Gardening

Growing your own vegetables will save you money, time in the supermarket, and slash your carbon footprint. Portable containers, crates or pots are a perfect place to start if you don't have enough space for a dedicated vegetable patch.

Invest in a greenhouse to increase your yield of fresh fruit and vegetables and to save space, you can grow legumes (runner beans, broad beans, French beans and peas), squashes and pumpkins vertically. Salad leaves, herbs and tomatoes grow well on balconies and patios.

Have a Go at Upcycling

Reduce waste in your garden and get creative by reusing items that would otherwise be heading for landfill.

If you’re planning DIY projects, think about how you can use old pieces of furniture in the garden. Bathroom and kitchen renovations mean old baths and sinks can make striking statement pieces in the garden when filled with flowers and foliage.

Take a look in our Garden section for inspiration.

Make Your Own Compost

Start off your compost from kitchen and green waste in a quiet corner of your garden.

Making compost is all about layers. Regularly add alternating layers of green (nitrogen-rich) materials like grass cuttings, weeds and uncooked vegetable peelings and brown (carbon-rich) materials like leaves, wood chippings, shredded paper and cardboard, and sticks allows the compost to truly thrive.

The Aerobin (below) is a hot composter. Hot composting reduces the composting process to as little as 12 weeks!

Invite More Wildlife into Your Garden

Invite more wildlife into your garden by not mowing all of your lawn, planting some wildflowers and leaving an area of your garden to become wild and grow naturally. This will make an ideal habitat.

Pile leaves, wood and fallen branches to make a hedgehog habitat, plant pollinator-attracting plants and put food out for the birds. A healthy ecosystem will also mean fewer pests.

Collect & Save Rainwater

In dry spells, always prioritise water-use by which plants need it most, like young plants, greenhouses, hanging baskets and window boxes.

Buy a water butt to collect rainwater. We offer a range of high-quality equipment for the conservation of water, with speedy service at great value prices.

There are many good reasons to install a water butt, particularly if you’re looking to save money on your water bills if your home is run by a water meter. Filling your buckets and watering cans with naturally-collected rainwater also means that you will avoid the use of chlorinated tap water, which can be toxic to plants.

Explore Original Organics and discover more sustainable solutions for 2021.