Try and catch the rain

Rain is scarce, and perchance it should rain before 2008, consider catching it while you can. Two rain-barrel building workshops are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 11, at Whole Foods, 81 S. Elliot Road, Chapel Hill, at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. You can use rain barrels to harvest water to irrigate landscaping or gardens (or if a dust bowl sets in, you could use the rain to brush your teeth).

The workshops will include a brief presentation on water conservation; participants will then build a 55-gallon rain barrel. There is a $10 materials fee. Pre-registration is required. Information: Call Whole Foods Market at 968-1983. The event is co-sponsored by the grocery, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority and the N.C. Cooperative Extension. To read about the Triangle’s drought and local water policies, see opinion columnist Bob Burtman’s “Lawn lovers, local officials ignore drought.”