Rain Barrels
A 275-gallon tote holds more rain than five typical barrels combined. We fit a screened inlet, overflow, and a garden-hose spigot so you can water a whole yard off one good storm.
Products / Upcycled
Repurposed & Upcycled Goods
Every industrial tote eventually earns retirement — but retirement is not the landfill. It is a second career as a rain barrel, a raised bed, a compost brewer, or a firewood caddy. These are the goods we build from totes that finished carrying product, and they are honestly our favorite thing on the lot.
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Second Careers
A tote's retirement plan.
A composite IBC is basically a giant, food-safe, ultra-durable plastic bottle wrapped in a steel exoskeleton. The stuff that makes it great for hauling syrup makes it fantastic for holding rainwater, growing tomatoes, or wrangling firewood. When a bottle finally times out of industrial duty, cutting it up for scrap is a waste of good engineering.
So we don't. Our workshop turns retired totes into things people actually want in their backyards and garages. It's the last loop in the circle — and the most fun to build. Bursting with ideas? Read our roundup of IBC tote uses & upcycling ideas.
The Workshop
Six ways a tote lives on.
Gravity-Fed Water Storage
Stack a tote on a stand and let physics do the pumping. Ideal for off-grid cabins, livestock troughs, greenhouses, and emergency drinking-water reserves.
Compost Tea Brewers
Add an air manifold and a bulkhead drain and a food-grade tote becomes a bubbling 275-gallon batch brewer. Feed a market garden with living compost tea, cheap.
Planters & Raised Beds
Cut a tote horizontally and you get two long, deep planters inside a ready-made cage trellis. Perfect for tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, and wicking beds.
Firewood & Storage Caddies
Strip the bottle, keep the cage, add a base, and you have a rugged, ventilated crate that holds a face cord of firewood or a mountain of shop clutter.
Workshop Parts Washers
The lower half of a tote, a drain valve, and a recirculating pump turn into a solvent or degreaser parts washer that costs a fraction of a store-bought unit.
One Tote, Reimagined
The numbers behind the fun.
275gal
Rainwater one barrel can bank
2
Deep planters from a single tote
100lbs
HDPE & steel kept out of the waste stream
5+yrs
Second-career service, easily
Curious what reuse saves at scale? Run your own tote count through the loop calculator and watch the plastic, steel, and CO₂e add up.
Do It Yourself
Want to build your own?
Half the joy is making it. Start with a clean reconditioned tote (food-grade if it'll touch drinking water or edibles), grab a spigot and fittings from our parts catalog, and follow the project ideas in our upcycling guide. A drill, a hole saw, and an afternoon is usually all it takes.
Or Let Us Build It
Made to order.
Prefer it finished and ready to use? Tell us what you want — rain barrel with overflow kit, gravity stand, raised-bed set, parts washer — and how many, and we'll build it from a retired tote and get it to you. Perfect for schools, community gardens, farms, and municipalities that want a turnkey, feel-good reuse story.
Weekend Project
Build a rain barrel in five steps.
The most popular DIY build, start to finish. Use a food-grade tote if the water will ever touch an edible garden or a hose people drink from.
01
Start clean
Begin with a washed reconditioned tote, food-grade if it’ll water edibles. Rinse it once more before you cut.
02
Cut a screened inlet
Open the top around the 6-inch cap and fit fine mesh screen to keep leaves, debris, and mosquitoes out while rain flows in from a downspout.
03
Add an overflow
Drill and fit a high bulkhead or elbow so excess storm water routes away from the foundation instead of over the top of the barrel.
04
Fit the spigot
Thread an S60x6-to-garden-hose adapter and a brass spigot onto the outlet from the parts catalog. Raise the tote for gravity pressure.
05
Level & connect
Set it on solid, level blocks — a full 275-gallon barrel weighs over a ton — connect the downspout, and start banking free water.
More builds and detail in our upcycling ideas guide.
Who Loves Them
Second-career totes, everywhere.
Gardeners
Home & market gardens
Rainwater harvesting, wicking beds, raised planters, and compost tea for a greener plot and a smaller water bill.
Homesteads
Off-grid & livestock
Gravity-fed troughs, cabin water storage, and emergency reserves where a pump and power aren’t guaranteed.
Schools
Classrooms & STEM
A visible, hands-on circular-economy lesson — and a working rain barrel for the campus garden.
Community
Gardens & nonprofits
Turnkey water storage and planters with a feel-good reuse story that’s easy to fund and explain.
Municipal
Parks & cities
Irrigation reserves and dust-control fill stations built from containers the city would otherwise pay to dispose of.
Makers
Workshops & farms
Parts washers, firewood caddies, and rugged storage crates that cost a fraction of store-bought gear.
Build It Right
A few honest safety notes.
- Only use certified food-grade totes for potable water or edibles
- Never repurpose a tote that carried pesticide or unknown chemicals for garden or water use
- A full 275-gallon tote weighs over 2,000 lb — set it on solid, level ground
- Shade the bottle from long-term UV to slow algae growth and material fatigue
- Add a vented lid on any gravity draw-off to prevent vacuum collapse
When in doubt about a tote’s history, ask us — or read the tote safety guide.
Questions
Upcycling FAQ.
How much rainwater can a tote rain barrel hold?
A single 275-gallon tote holds more rain than about five typical 55-gallon barrels combined. With a screened inlet, an overflow, and a spigot, one good storm can bank enough water to irrigate a whole yard.
Is it safe to store drinking water in an upcycled tote?
Only if you start with a food-grade tote that held food-safe product and was washed and certified. Never use a tote that carried chemicals or unknown contents for potable water. Ask for food-grade stock for any drinking-water build.
Can I build my own, or do you build them?
Both. Grab a clean reconditioned tote and parts and DIY it, or tell us the build and quantity and we’ll make it to order from a retired tote.
How long does an upcycled tote last?
Easily five or more years. The bottle and cage are built for heavy industrial duty, so backyard use is gentle by comparison. Keeping it out of direct UV extends its life further.
Related
Everything a build needs.
Reconditioned Totes
The clean, food-grade-optional starting point for any upcycle project.
See used totes →Spigots & Adapters
Garden-hose adapters, brass spigots, valves, and gaskets for every build.
Shop parts →Upcycling Ideas
Our full roundup of things worth building from a retired IBC tote.
Get inspired →Reduce · Reuse · Recycle
Give a retired tote a second life.
Tell us the build you want and how many. We'll turn a retired tote into a rain barrel, planter, or brewer — and keep it out of the landfill.
