MD of bathroom retail franchise Ripples Paul Crow on partnering with the Unified Water Label Association to educate consumers on water efficiency in store

Sustainability has never been a more important topic than it is today and at Ripples, we are taking steps towards becoming a more sustainable business.

As specialists within the industry, there’s no doubt the biggest difference we can make is to ensure our clients are educated on the financial but more importantly environmental benefits of using less water.

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The product selection we have on offer today has never been better suited to creating beautiful bathrooms which don’t negatively impact the environment.

Foom taps with flow restrictors to showers which use air technology to reduce water usage, clients can now benefit from water saving technologies, without compromising on look or performance.

The biggest step we’re taking to educate our customers is an upcoming partnership with the Unified Water Label Association.

Working with UWLA

We’ve been aware of the good work of the UWLA for some time but this had recently gained momentum due to the increasing pressure the UWLA’s MD Yvonne Orgill is rightly putting on the industry to implement a water-labelling solution on bathroom products before the Government mandate one.

We’re currently working behind the scenes to trial the implementation of a water label in a selection of our showrooms, to understand the intricacies of how it looks and more importantly how it works to educate our customers. After the initial test, we’ll look to roll out the label scheme to all of our showrooms.

At a franchisee level, we’ve been working more closely with our suppliers to offer our franchisees and designers training on the subject of sustainability and eco products.

Despite sustainability being higher on the public’s agenda, the reality is that customers don’t always ask us about sustainable products when designing their new bathroom.

This is usually only a factor when the project is for a new build home where legislations are regulated.

By educating our franchisees and designers about the eco-friendly products available, they can make sure the subject is on the client’s agenda.

Our designers have a really important role here as the new bathrooms they design should last our clients in excess of 10 years so they’re designing the bathrooms of the future.

The products specified today give us an opportunity to reduce water and carbon usage for the following decade so there’s a real importance to selecting the right products.