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The Umbrella Pot Waters Your Houseplants with Rainwater

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 09. 6.07
Design & Architecture

kyouei-umbrella-pot-group.jpg

If a WaterButt doesn't quite jive with your aesthetic -- or you don't want your neighbors to see you pouring water out of a plastic butt -- the Umbrella Pot might be a little more up your alley. Bringing rainwater harvesting down to the micro level, it's pretty ingenious; what else are you going to do with the water that collects on your umbrella? Plus, as long as you remember to put your umbrella away, you won't have to remember to water the plant growing in the base. With summer winding down and the rainy season (read: the next nine months) coming to the Pacific Northwest, this TreeHugger might be able to put one of these babies to good use. ::Kyouei via ::swissmiss

Comments (11)

ha ! you better live in North london or south vancouver BC because no rain will kill your poor little plant. ON TOP, the plant must be shade only one. very few doors are placed next to windows with sun access. so when you add plenty of rain + little sun = I bet your plant will be some Hair Cap and Fern Moss

jump to top Dysthymia [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

Dysthymia- appropriate name....what a downer. Unlike you, I appriciate the cleaverness of this. Ever think of daylighting your house? Not all plants need direct sunlight, many can utilize indirect. You are right, do to the design of many houses, plants may not grow, but lighten up!

jump to top pdq1966 [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

I can appreciate something like this. I in fact live in Vancouver and one of the few places that gets a lot of light in our place is our front door entry (it's all glass).

jump to top stephanieb [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

Wow this is stupid!

jump to top Chester Huggins says:

@ pdq1966. it is somewhat clever, but not very functional. Looks better than a normal umbrella rack but i wouldn't buy it only because looks nice.

Here is a seasonal idea for a change. just move one of the house plants to the entry of the house, find someway to "hang" your umbrella, (like a hat hanger) on top of the plant, in that way the rain water will fall into the plant. when the season is over, just move the plant back to the previous room with out buying an extra thing.

Here is another idea. Put one of this umbrella thingy in the bathroom, place some kind of filter and the guys can use it as waterless urinals. Your plants watered at least twice a day at least. the extra will down the drain. Want extra "green"? the unused filtered urine can go to the garden water supply. Dont know how much would cost the filter. I was thinking some kind of water pitcher filter adapted to it.

about the name. Im glad you know (without google) what my nick name means, but not everything you read means what you think it means.

jump to top Dysthymia [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

@Dysthymia. I am all about not buying items I do not absolutely need....this being one of them. You are right it is only cleaver, but you still have to remember that the greater majority of consumers still do not get the concept of water (desalinated) being a very precious resource. Items like this that can be found in a store might just make them think a little. Then again, who really needs this? But who really needs a computer, gadgets, throw rugs, collector anything.......To fit into the standard culture and perpetuate this "green" movement we need to give people choices and educate them in the process. Is this thought provoking to the standard individual YES. Not everyone looks as deep as you do, maybe this product will perpetuate and generate change.....probably not, but still think beyond your standard tree hugger mentality. That is all that I am saying.

jump to top pdq1966 [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

maybe something equally as stupid should be designed for snowy boots in the winter. maybe in the spring we can just leave the stupid umbrella thing out for the mosquitoes to breed in and spread West Nial!

jump to top Julie says:

Actually I have done that before (as Dysthymia said), I have a pot with moss and with a stick to hang my umbrella, it works good and it's nice, and of course you don't need to buy any specific eco-junk product for that.

jump to top Jorge says:

Is the tiny bit of water you save worth this hunk of plastic?

Just say no to more useless plastic crap. If you're going to go through all the polluting to drill for oil, you outta create something really useful out of it.

This is ridiculous.

jump to top Beth Terry says:

There's more water used in the production of the plastic then could ever be put into the pot. It is, however, a good idea to utilize water that would otherwise go unused. My suggestion, put a pot at your front door, and lean your umbrella against it so that the water trickles into the pot. This way you save money, we all save resources, and you make use of the water from the umbrella.

jump to top Anonymous says:

..but it doesnt always rain?

jump to top quickthinker [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

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