Dear industry colleague,

I was speaking to a plumber recently about licensing and other related issues that have plumbers up in arms about the way their industry is being run. He lamented the fact that the greater focus of plumbing's governing bodies has shifted from grassroots problems to the global issue of sustainability and green plumbing.

There is no doubt that issues of consistency, licensing and general good practice hold equal weight to the matter of sustainability. However, plumbers, particularly the old guard, need to be aware that green plumbing is an important way forward for public health and is here to stay.

Dan Bena, who spearheads international sustainability efforts for food and beverage giant PepsiCo says, "You cannot de-couple the many elements of the water crises with which the world is faced."

"Water sits squarely at the intersection of agriculture and food security, global health, and even education and gender empowerment in developing economies. We need to solve the problems comprehensively, and conservation is one very important part of the solution."

In Australia and the US the green plumbing movement is growing stronger by the day. It is something we all need to be aware of, so that water shortages become a problem of the past, not something we are battling in future.