To Catch the Rain: Inspiring stories of communities coming together to harvest their own rainwater, and how you can do it too

by Lonny Grafman, Gabriel Krause (Illustrator), Joshua Pearce (Preface)

This book is for everyone,

Community Get inspired and take action. Learn from the lessons of previous systems. This book is already being used to build inspired systems around the  Find the DIY details ready to be adapted to your local and global projects. See how other makers solved their Use this in your Middle School, High School, and University courses. Provides context for education and practical experience to back up math, science, and social curriculum. Includes problem-sets to reinforce the knowledge in the Rejoice in strong practical reasons to be learning. The real stories bring the math and technical details to life. The custom diagrams and pictures deepen the Size your system so that you have the water you need, when you need it.International development Be ready with appropriate systems and examples.  Build systems to be water secure. Have the book around in case you need it! Expand the resilience and impact of the idea that, instead of telling people what not to do, we can build better systems that people want to do.People looking for inspiration and follow-through.To Catch the Rain includes project details and images from dozens of Appropedia contributors. The Appropedia Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to "sharing knowledge to build rich, sustainable lives."  Up-to-date resource pages on Appropedia support each of the projects and resources in the book for long term follow-up. Some of the projects have been updated periodically online for over a decade! 

Thanks to a special arrangement with the publisher, Humboldt State Press, all of the net proceeds from sales will go back into the book and to the Appropedia Foundation. In addition, the content is licensed open source, as Creative Commons, so you can share it however you like!

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 29, 2018

Reviews

[Meenal Rana · Rating 5 out of 5]

To catch the rain is a book that Grafman has written in a way that speaks to everyone--be it someone with an engineering degree or non-engineering background, academicians or students, or community members. The thoughtful stories from the communities around the world, working on the water catchment systems and taking ownership of the solutions apt for their communities, are very inspiring. Grafman skillfully incorporated wealth of his technical knowledge and passion for community building in one book. To catch the rain includes great pictures and illustrations to support the text, which makes it more engaging and easy to use. The book cover is beautifully done--with calm effects and hope for future. A great book for gift to anyone who cares about sustainable solutions!

[Chris Waterguy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed, thorough, practical and beautifully illustrated. A wonderful effort, a labour of love and the culmination of years of collaboration and hands-on experience. Lonny is a force of nature, and his care for detail as well as for communities and the environment shine through in this book.

Disclosure: I have worked with the author, Lonny, on Appropedia (the sustainability knowledge sharing website he founded). Years ago we hung out in California, where I got to see in person his wisdom, passion and work.

[Kasey]

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book as a giveaway recipient. I am excited to read it and will update my thoughts on this book soon!

[Doris Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

GREAT

[bridgette larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer who heard about this book through a fellow Volunteer. During our three months of training, we lived in a community where water was sparse. This book was great during that time. I finally finished the book, however, in a different community where water is more reliable. Regardless, this is an extremely resourceful book for communities looking to improve their water supply.