Rain Couture

Many of the methods we've featured for saving water at home—not flushing your toilet, including your husband's stinky socks in your laundry, letting your lawn grow brown and spray painting it green—don't involve a whole lot of aesthetic value. So we're excited to tell you about, of all things, fashionable rainwater collection.

So much for collecting water in a barrel on the back porch. The Rainwater HOG holds 47 gallons and looks like a piece of avant-garde furniture. It can fit under your deck, or even be framed on your wall if you so choose. We can see it now. "Yes, George, it's a work of art—that's why we hung it next to the Picasso." OK, so maybe not...even though it's high end, the thought behind it is good.

In case you've not heard of using rain water as a water supply, the New York Times explains that saving rain water to use in your garden or to wash your car won't save you a whole lot of money, but it will ease some of the strain on the local water supply. That's right—contrary to popular belief, water is not unlimited.  "My tank has probably been emptied and filled three or four times since I put it in this spring," rainwater enthusiast Lenny Librizzi told the Times. "That's 600 gallons that's not going into the sewer." That's quite a lot!

Would you consider using a rainwater tank to save water and make your home fashionably more green? [Poptech]