Why so much fuss about green asks Sean Cochrane of AllSafe Energy Efficient Products

Green Shoots, green collar jobs, green loans, green products, green industry, green industrial revolution. Why is the green industry gaining momentum asks Sean Cochrane, Director at AllSafe Franchising Pty Ltd - AllSafe Energy Efficient Products ?

The 'Green Movement' is now gaining momentum, mostly because it is creating jobs while saving people money. The Green Industry is showing that ‘sustainability can actually sustain people’. This is silencing the detractors that once said that the eco industry ‘is going nowhere and costs money’.

The Green Industry is not only saving homeowners, government and businesses money through the savings that the products themselves actually provide e.g. in the energy savings that a solar hot water unit or the insulation can provide over time. The Green Products Industry is now actually becoming a major player in assisting the national recovery from the recent negative worldwide down turn.

It is interesting to note that as Australia adopts more green products and as the green industries sales grow, so too does the demand for plumbers, electricians, fitters and installers who provide their services to this sector. Simply put the ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ is creating jobs.

In his address The Hon, Treasurer M.P. Wayne Swan, reaffirmed that he and his department were committed to long term plans, to ensure that support for energy saving products would remain in place. He used the ‘Allsafe energy efficient products group’, example where Allsafe is expected to create around 900 new “green” jobs in the next 2- 3 years, with up to 52 new Allsafe Energy Efficient products – Franchises being opened over that period.

Swan said that the expansion of the energy efficient products franchise group is a direct result of the growth of the green products industry and the Government’s economic stimulus packages. “Allsafe is an example of green companies employing new staff daily”, and through “promoting sustainability there is clear proof that Government’s stimulus package and climate change policies are supporting local jobs,” he said.

As for Green Shoots - It was not too long ago that the every news headline we saw spoke of doom, gloom, pollution and dark economic days ahead. Then about two months or so ago the first stories started surfacing of “Green shoots”. Meaning that there were actually a few positive stories to be told, of companies shrugging off the negativity and employing people when others were laying off workers. Now we are hearing of companies with expansion plans and some with recession busting plans. I am happy to say that the ‘Green Industry’ is one of those GREEN SHOOTS and that is something for Australia to be proud of.

Many of the above mentioned developments in the green sector have lead to, leaders of industry, banking and Government coming together to work on new and innovative ways to assist the man in the street to make the switch to greener products. Which ultimately save the user money on energy and help minimise the impact on the environment?

However it is just a fact of life that unfortunately, people can simply just not afford the upgrades to retrofit energy saving devices to the home – even after one factors in the assistance from solar or insulation rebates that are in place at present.

Enter the GREEN LOANS, which I believe could well be the innovative link to bridge the gap between the cost of the products and the shortfall in cost after the rebate value. I would even be so bold as to predict that, these new 0% interest green loans will actually accelerate the adoption of mainstream green products and energy saving devices into the home. Green retrofitted products such as solar hot water, window tinting, Shading devices, energy efficient lighting and energy saving products such as 7 star rated washers will qualify for these 0% interest green loans under the newly proposed scheme, due to be released by Government with the next few weeks. So yes, I would be closely watching the announcements from the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts or as well as other informative and reputable green sources such as the financial institutions which provide these Green Loans, such as QLD Country Credit union.

AllSafe Energy Efficient Products have retail franchises throughout Australia supplying energy efficient products for residential and commercial applications.