I’m not much of a fan of inclement weather, so I try to trade any of my story assignments here at Hardware Retailing magazine that might involve me getting cold, wet or excessively sweaty.

So I wasn’t particularly jealous when another editor, Liz, headed out to Annapolis to visit a retailer who had decided he was going to figure out a way to use the rainy east coast weather to help his community.

Jared Littman, owner of K&B True Value in Annapolis, Md., and his staff host a rain barrel and compost bin event every spring, giving residents ways to save water and reuse food scraps from their kitchens and yard clippings from their lawns.

The event not only helped the environment but educated attendees on how they could qualify for an environmental credit on their water bills by using the rain barrels.

Littman even invited a local environmental group to his event. The group and the K&B staff helped educate attendees on installing and using the rain barrels and compost bins.

Finding ways to help the environment is important to Jared. He has a whole section of products devoted to environmentally friendly alternatives in his store. He and his staff teach workshops on energy-efficient home improvement projects, and the store even has solar panels on its roof to generate power for the store.

I listened as Liz told me about Jared, his staff and K&B True Value. The staff’s passion for taking care of the environment was clearly contagious. I was incredibly jealous that I missed the trip. I wouldn’t even mind getting a little waterlogged to see this event.