New England Rain BarrelSadly, they don't seem to have any pickup towns in western MA this year. But they do seem to have quite a few places in central and eastern MA. If you order a rainbarrel or two and arrange to pick it up through one of the towns they're working with, the rain barrels are only $72.95 each. They also sell some useful hardware, for if you're say, hooking two of them up together, quite reasonably.
Last year Greenfield was one of the towns and so we ordered two and picked them up on the appointed day. They were 60-something each last year but of course everything's gotten more expensive. Still, they're made from recycled plastic, are of food-grade quality materials, and work very well.
Could be a useful thing to have, especially if we have a dry summer (quite possible, given the weather we had this past weekend).
The company has arrangements with some towns in some neighboring states, so worth checking it out if you're interested. You can also order from them and pick it up at their main place, but it costs more for some reason (not a group order I guess). $119.95 I think -- which, if you do some searching online, is still not horrible, but.... Oh, and don't even think about having one shipped -- I did some research last year at a few companies and it doubles the price of the item, at least.
We'll be putting ours out, hopefully this week.