Plumbers help tell the green story

Since the program began, there have been 5000 attendances. “It’s a community effort,” says Ray Herbert, CEO of MPMSAA, “We get assistance from the government, and support from the local community where the training is being provided. Manufacturers provide the technical information and materials and the plumbers themselves volunteer their day.”

Small business owners like Peter Lawson have volunteered more than a day’s revenue to participate in the training. “I thought it was a good initiative, it’s at the forefront of everyone’s awareness,” says Lawson. “In terms of caring for the environment, it’s the only one we’ve got – so anything we can do as an industry is important.”

According to Herbert, the industry responded well to the idea of Green plumbing.

“It was very clear that we really needed to be called green,” says Herbert. “We didn’t know whether plumbers would be prepared to be seen as greenies and we were amazed that the plumbers themselves actually saw, once they came to the classes, how important their role was in telling the green story.”

Having finished training in the Northern Territory, the concept of the Greenplumbers program is nation-wide and has now been taken offshore. “We’ve taken the green message to America,” says Herbert. In California they have now scheduled their first 100 training programs. While the goal in Australia is to achieve 10,000 accredited plumbers over the next 5 years, the goal in America, due to its greater population, is to train up to 40,000 Greenplumbers.

Photo: Esther Turnbull - Peter Lawson of Lawson Bros

Source South Sydney Herald September 2007 - www.southsydneyherald.com.au