There are certain environmental actions that are quite approachable and easy to take.
Rainwater collection and filtration at individual homes and other buildings is a great opportunity for efficiency and abundance.
The drain pipe in the video was able to collect a gallon of water in under 10 seconds.
There is immense potential for decentralized power that is based on natural systems like the water cycle. This is about storage though for now.
Even just having access to that much clean drinking water at all times is a wonderful feature for a home or larger commercial building, that does not necessarily depend on the city water system.
The most basic way to implement this is connecting a building’s existing drainage system, the gutters and downspouts, to an adaptive nozzle or diverter that feeds into a rain barrel for collection.
The barrel can also be outfitted or connected to a filtration system so that the water is drinkable out of the tank. The tank could also be used for other tasks like watering plants.
Typically in an urban or suburban environment, during a rainstorm, the water will seep into the ground or flow into the roads and then the drains in the streets. That is, into the sewers towards water treatment plants.
Implementation of rainwater collection at the source would enable more direct water access for the everyday household, apartment or condo buildings and businesses. It could also serve as flood mitigation.
Rainwater systems for larger buildings can also be gravity driven as the water filters down from the top floor, and then collected also from the bottom — this would perhaps even be a welcome auxiliary alternative for high-rises, for which difficulties can arise with the municipal water system in pumping water upwards many floors.
Rainwater collection is a relatively easy upgrade that would make a large impact, especially as a neighborhood trend.
Environmental and public health situations don’t have to be so dire. Strong and simple measure such as these can be taken.
A mere google search yields a multitude of results from small inexpensive rainwater collection systems on up to larger and more complex commercial systems, viable options for these augmentations definitely already exist.
For other everyday [public] environmentalism:
Wherever you are, plant something, plant a garden.
Wherever you are, pick up a piece or two of trash.