NEW ORLEANS – Green Light New Orleans is helping residents in our city with environmental friendliness.

Today,  the non-profit organization is meeting with City Council in hopes of jump-starting their movement!

“Rain barrels help a lot with all different kind of things” Green Light New Orleans founder, Andreas Hoffmann, told WGNO.

Rain barrels might be a man’s best friend here in New Orleans. The over-sized container holds 50 gallons of water which is perfect for storms and flooding.

Andreas also tells us, these barrels can do so much more. “Slow down subsidence because you later on release that water into the ground and that keeps our ground tables stable. It’s good for your plants. Rainwater is way better for your plants and it saves you on the water bill.”

Eileen Ryan is Green Light’s most recent client. She says, the barrel will save she and her husband a lot of trouble. “I have a lot of very wide soffits so rainwater doesn’t necessarily get there so i have to do a lot of watering by pail or can.”

So, how do these rain barrels work? First, you fill out an application. After you’re approved, the Green Light crew will come to your house and install the barrel in your yard.

“It’s wonderful. We didn’t have the energy to build a new barrel system to replace our cracked one and so this is a real delight and we’re happy to support green light and all they do.”

To sweeten the service, the founder asks you to decide how much to give. You’re only required to pay a $10 minimum.

“We need to have rain barrels all over the city not just in certain areas” says Andreas. So it’s really important that everybody can afford it and be a part of this whole movement.”

Green Light New Orleans told WGNO they install about 300 barrels a year. However, with the support of the city, they’re aiming to install about 1,200 annually.