‘Bringing Sexy Back’ to the Plumbing Industry

SACRAMENTO, CA:    Not quite in the same style as Justin Timberlake, who gyrated and proclaimed a few years ago: “I’m Bringing Sexy Back” we, at GreenPlumbers^® USA are working to do our part to “Bring Sexy Back to Plumbing.” Well, maybe even to bring sexy to plumbing in the first place.

The other night, after my presentation to the ASPE meeting in Orange County, Calif., I had a conversation with Tim Allinson, a highly educated, highly esteemed Professional Engineer and prolific columnist for several publications. One of his recent pieces discussed just that—the need for our industry to make plumbing sexy and cool (or, in the words of my 13 year-old son: “SICK.” as in: “Wow! That car is SICK!” Translation: “That car is pleasing to my eye!”)

Anyway, to quote Allinson, “An aggressive campaign must be mounted in order to improve the public image of our industry.” We further spoke about the need for good education, offered by universities and continuing education institutions as well as by organizations such as GreenPlumbers. To prevent the further erosion of the plumbing industry, innovative and cutting-edge curricula need to be available to the trade and to those who study plumbing.

In each of our workshops designed for plumbers, engineers, designers, architects and industry professionals, we underscore GreenPlumbers’ mission to improve the image of the plumber—to further his regard as the protector of the health, safety and resources of the planet—as The Champion of Conservation. We seek to enhance the appreciation of the plumber and change the general negative perception that exists and purports plumbing to be a gross, dirty job. We present the reality that plumbing is a highly technical trade and absolutely essential to the health and well being of every person on the planet.

Our aim is education first. We have begun our crusade with the plumber in the hope of raising his awareness that he is often the punch line of the joke: the “butt-crack” plumber; “Joe the Plumber”; or how about the plumber who has as his tag line: “Your poop is my bread and butter?”

The fact is that plumbing is not a joke. Today, as reported by the UN: “The statistics are mind-boggling: of the more than six billion people in the world today, over one billion have no access to improved drinking water—a basic necessity for human life—and about 2.6 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation. And according to the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, polluted water and lack of basic sanitation claim the lives of over 1.5 million children every year, mostly from water-borne diseases.”

Plumbing needs to take back its former revered status. Plumbing needs to get sexy and cool.

Let’s face it, nothing is sexier or more appealing right now than “green.” Someone actually gave me a t-shirt that says, “Green is Sexy.” There’s your proof right there!

One way GreenPlumbers believes the plumber and our industry can morph from disgusting to “sick” (see above for definition) is through water conservation and linking the plumber to resource protection. Remember that only the plumber has access to the end-user of our precious resource—water. It is very cool that the plumber can motivate and incite change with regard to awareness, behaviors and water conservation while simultaneously ensuring a safe, clean and healthy environment.

Recently, GreenPlumbers’ Web master genius, Joshua Dowden, designed a widget for the Web that is available to be embedded into any plumbing Web site. [The widgets, available in three different sizes, are available on the Web site. Just copy and paste the HTML code somewhere into the body of your Web site and you’re in business.—Ed.]

The widget was intentionally built and initially introduced to enhance the Licensed GreenPlumbers’ Web site and to allow GreenPlumbers to deliver water and energy tips that are geographically targeted to visitors.

Dowden has created a photo gallery of slides with conservation tips that will be updated on a monthly basis so that visitors will be well informed on sustainable living. The geographically personalized water tips are customized to appear local for the Web site visitor. For example, if viewing the widget from an office in downtown L.A., the tips will say “Watering Wisely in California,” however if viewing the widget from a cabin in Montana, the copy will read “Watering Wisely in Montana.”

What is even cooler about this widget is its inherent business attracting potential for our licensed GreenPlumbers. When the logo in the bottom right hand corner of the widget is clicked, three links appear—one of which is “Find a GreenPlumber,” which leads the user to the proximity search for the licensees. Therefore, on a site such as Metropolitan Water District’s Save-a-Buck link, which drives 30,000+ consumers to our widget daily, the potential for our licensed GreenPlumbers is exponentially increased. In addition, the widget generates business for the plumber through the display of water conservation tips. As an example, the “leak detection tip” slide, which provides the steps of a dye test to check for a leaking toilet, may lead the consumer to uncover a leak and call a plumber to fix it!

The unintentional application for this widget and the happy surprise for GreenPlumbers is that several municipalities, power and water agencies have joined the many plumbing companies in embedding the widget in their Web sites.

In my opinion, the widget is “sick.” I think anything that can reach thousands of people in the blink of an eye and deliver an important message is cool. The licensed GreenPlumber with all five accreditations and a roster full of fully accredited employees is representative of the cool, educated, upscale image that GreenPlumbers is trying to promote. Although we have not launched a national advertising campaign, each day the GreenPlumbers team works toward the goal of improving the image of the plumber to the public and to potential journeymen, as well. The fact that I, personally, find plumbing engineering, plumbing design and plumbing installation very cool and even sexy is insignificant. What matters most is how we, as an industry, view ourselves and the vital work we do.

The GreenPlumbers^® training and accreditation program is open to all recognized plumbers and contractors. The program is partnered with the EPA's WaterSense program, the Alliance for Water Efficiency, the California Center for Sustainable Energy, the California Urban Water Conservation Council, and many more industry leaders in its mission of bringing environmental training to plumbers. For more information, please view our website www.greenplumbersusa.com.