Green living is increasingly becoming a way of life for many people. Over the next several weeks, Our Habitat will introduce you to a range of green technologies to help make your home more environmentally friendly while saving you money, if not immediately, then at least over the medium to long-term.

IN a country like Jamaica, where rainfall appears to be becoming increasingly erratic, at least one climate change expert has advanced the use of rainwater harvesting as one green technology to adopt.

But just what is rainwater harvesting?

Rainwater harvesting sees rainwater directed via guttering from the roof of your home or office to a tank where it is filtered and cured – via the use of, for example, chlorine tablets. It is thereafter pumped to your bathroom, kitchen or garden.

Jeffrey Spooner, head of the Climate Branch of the National Meteorological Service, also known as the Met Office, has given the technology his stamp of approval.

“Rainwater harvesting is one of the methodologies that is highly supported by climate change practitioners like myself. Basically it is sustainable,” he told the

Sunday Observer.

He added that the initial high cost of putting in place the gutters and the tank, which was not readily available, should not serve as a deterrent.

“The initial cost might be a little expensive, but once constructed, it is there and does not require a lot of maintenance,” Spooner said.

Environmental consultant Eleanor Jones was of a similar mind, noting that the technology was particularly important at a time of such variability in rainfall associated with climate change.

“We either have too much or too little rainfall, and this pattern is becoming even more pronounced with climate change. So when we do have rainwater, it’s extremely important that we harvest it. It will add to our storage and there are some places like Bermuda where they have no surface water.

All their houses are built to collect rainwater and that is what they use,” Jones managing director of Environmental Solutions Limited (ESL) told the Sunday Observer. “When we do have rain, we get a lot and we really should be harvesting it, collecting it, and putting in place whatever is necessary to ensure we have appropriate usage. domestic and even industrial purposes.”

Spooner said in the interim that Jamaica currently enjoys enough rainfall to benefit handsomely from the technology. In the same breath, he said it was also advisable to harvest or trap rainwater to serve in times of drought – echoing Jones’ argument.

“At a time when the rainfall pattern is changing, then you will have your water readily accessible,” he said, adding that there was also the added benefit of a reduced monthly water bill from the National Water Commission (NWC).

There is also the added bonus of limiting the pressure on dams and the need to build new ones. By capturing/harvesting rainwater, the flow of storm water is also reduced, thereby minimising the likelihood of overloading drains and gullies in communities across the island.

Spooner has advised in the interim that people who want to learn more about the technology should check with their local parish council to ascertain for example, the size tank that would be most suited to the size of their household.

Spooner said it was way past time that Jamaica readopted the technology.

“It is not a new technology. It is being practised in places like Antigua and Barbuda and in the Cayman Islands as well. It is one of the measures that have been adopted by these places as one of the adaptation methods for climate change,” he said.