A Rain Barrel Brings Bridgeton Together to Protect Water

Some times good fortune is serendipitous. American Littoral Society (ALS) for the past four summers has been hosting the Restoration Corps Intern program, working in and around Bridgeton. Two summers prior, the City of Bridgeton hosted the interns at the Bridgeton Tourism Center, allowing the ALS to use the facility for workshops and the grounds as work space to build rain barrels and stormwater planter boxes.  On one hot summer day the principal of Buckshutem Elementary was stuck at the light right in front of the tourism center.  He saw us installing rain barrels on the building and thought that’s the solution. He had been struggling to water new landscaping at the school.  The principal reached out to the mayor to inquire about the program, just that same day, the mayor had a rain barrel installed at his house.  We brought our friends from Rutgers Water Resource Program to meet the principal at the school to brain storm solutions.  The principal bought his team too, including the supervise of grounds and maintenance. On that same day we solved an irrigation problem and a flooding problem. Two cisterns for their court yard garden and rain garden for their flooding sidewalk. From there on out, we have been partnering with Bridgeton School district to build beautiful and sustainable school grounds through green stormwater management