High school student Madeline Abrams has developed an environmentally friendly and economically accessible way to capture rainwater using otherwise discarded plastic water bottles to create an irrigation system for vegetable gardens, farms, and landscapes.

To recognize and celebrate Earth Day and also increase awareness around plastic waste and water conservation, join us to learn how you can create a rainwater harvesting system for your community.

By using empty water bottles, cutting them in half lengthwise, and connecting them with waterproof tape (or other available resources), Madeline has created a gutter system to capture the rainfall that comes off of a roof. She then uses plastic bottles to create a downspout to direct the water to a holding tank similar to a rain barrel. Her website, Harvest Every Drop, that she created to share her invention can be found here.

Madeline recently presented her rainwater harvesting system virtually to 45 communities in New York, California, Uganda, Namibia, Lesotho, Angola, and South Africa. Her invention is being shared with villages and communities as a way to conserve water and address the issue of upcycling plastic waste that has become a major problem in many parts of the world. An article about Madeline’s system was published earlier this month in an international Rotary magazine covering Uganda.

After the Zoom presentation, Madeline will share the instructional video she created as a reference to build her watering system to help communities harvest every drop.

Register here!

Presentation will be conducted via Zoom. Visit their website here to find the appropriate download instructions and download link for your device.