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Yellow Dog Rain Barrels - Toronto
26 February 2009A couple of months ago I had the chance to communicate with Judy Nosworthy of Yellow Dog Rain Barrels in Toronto. Her story is a great example of one person proving that helping the environment can be rewarding both personaly and financially. I asked her to write a short post about who she is and what is is doing. If you are in the GTA I encourage you to look her up. Here is her story:
“A couple of years ago, I wanted a rain barrel, but didn’t want to spend over a hundred bucks at one of those Big Box Stores; so, I figured I’d make my own.
The first challenge I faced was getting barrels. I found this distributor in Toronto where they pick up food-grade barrels from smaller companies outside of the city for reuse. Interestingly, the larger companies just toss their barrels because they don’t think it’s worth their while to set them aside for guys like Dan at gotbarrels to purchase them AND take them away.
What a waste!
Anyway, our philosophy at Yellow Dog Rain Barrels is that we aim to make doing the environmentally right thing affordable. Our barrels aren’t pretty, which is why we use our REALLY cute dog, Gracie, to help us advertise, but they’re wonderfully functional.
We went from making 6 or so Yellow Dog Rain Barrels to purchasing over 100 55 gallon food-quality recycled barrels at a time from gotbarrels[at]gmail.com within about 2 months. Our product line has expanded to meet the increasing demands of our Toronto market, where smaller backyards and condos are more common than the ‘typical’ rain barrel backyard.
Our primary goal continues to be to provide a good rain barrel at a good price. We make a point of donating lots of our Yellow Dog Rain Barrels to charitable groups such as our local doggy daycare that is raising funds for the Farley Foundation, an organization that provides financial support to seniors and disabled persons to care for their dogs, community-based fundraisers and any other project that catches our eye.
At this point, we are a pick-up only operation. This might be somewhat limiting for us as a company, but we really enjoy making something out of what would otherwise be waste; so, we’re not too worried about expanding. Besides, here at Yellow Dog, we’re of the opinion that, when the time comes, the solution will present itself.”
on July 7th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Hi
Well here we go…..I need a used clean barrel 55 gal for a project but not for rain barrel use…..my real aim is great price on a few…who would you suggest? Thanks for any assistance. I am in Eastern Ontario so anywhere from about Toronto East would be good. Thanks
Wayne