You don't need a rain barrel to capture rain water. In fact, you don't need a barrel of any sort.

Jewel Deane Suddath of Raleigh sets out buckets, pans, bowls and casserole dishes when it rains and stores the water in Mason jars and old Pepsi bottles.

"During one September rainfall, I collected and 'canned' 46 quarts," Suddath wrote in an e-mail message. "I use this water for my backyard birds who have real difficulty during this drought. I use it for houseplants and shrubbery, too."