Saving's A Breeze - Weather.com

By Dawn McMullan

Saving's a Breeze

This year, wind energy will supply electricity to more than 4.5 million homes, only about 1 percent of U.S. electricity use, according to the American Wind Energy Association in Washington, D.C. This compares with 20 percent in Denmark, Spain and Portugal and 7 percent in Germany. Much of this, of course, is big corporate wind ? harnessed by companies such as Austin, Texas-based Green Mountain Energy Co. But "small wind," as the association calls it, is growing 18 to 20 percent a year.

As for rain barrels and cisterns, statistics are hard to come by. Water is cheap, and a system takes years to pay for itself ? if it ever does. For those using low-cost devices such as small rain barrels, it's a no-brainer. But when you get into spaceship-sized tanks, it's tougher to rationalize.

Greg Whitfield, owner of the Rain Well, an Arlington, Texas, firm that sells systems for capturing and storing rainwater, says some of his customers use the water for their yard, others to flush the toilets in their house, others for all their water needs.

"It's not really economical to do it because water is so cheap," he says. "But it's good for conservation, and the water is a lot better for the plants."

Leslie and Bill Heitz, looking for a rainwater system, ran across the Rainwater Pillow, invented by Atlanta horticulturalist Jim Harrington. The Heitzes, who moved to Atlanta this year, weren't accustomed to water rationing; currently the city allows no outdoor watering.

Rainwater Pillows range from 1,000 to 40,000 gallons and are designed to go under your crawl space, porch or deck. The Heitzes' pillow is about 2 feet tall and 10 feet by 15 feet in size, holding 22,000 gallons of water. "I left this gorgeous garden in Baltimore," says Leslie Heitz, 56. "I just felt like I wasn't going to plant a lot of landscaping if I was depending on city water. It just doesn't feel right."

Doug and Margaret Crouse of Rockway, New Jersey, bought a 54-gallon rain barrel two years ago. Doug Crouse, 38, was introduced to the concept while working for the Peace Corps in Panama. "It wasn't anything sophisticated, just big, blue buckets," he says. "I thought, 'Gosh, I want one of these when I get back.' Then, once we had one of those really dry summers, I thought: Why not?"