Plumbing supply salesman John Gotti was convicted on multiple counts of murder, extortion, tax evasion and racketeering. At his 1992 trial, Gotti was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences and stood revealed as the boss of the Gambino Crime Family.

This marked the end of Gotti’s plumbing career. He would have to trade his overalls and tool belt for an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

He spent the rest of his life in a maximum security prison at the mercy of a low flow toilet.

Infamous Plumber #4 – Super Mario

Most people remember Super Mario as a brave plumber on a quest to save the sewer princess from a land of sentient fungus…or something.

In reality, Mario is subtle, communist style propaganda. Notice his passion for the color red, uncanny resemblance to Joseph Stalin and the red star flag he raises at every castle he conquers?

Super Mario, and his less politically minded brother Luigi, are Marxist puppets sent to depose our leaders and replace them with heroes of the proletariat.

Infamous Plumber #3 – Joe the Plumber

During the 2008 campaign for President, Joe the Plumber became a media sensation. He accused then Senator Barrack Obama of taxing his business into bankruptcy.

In reality; Joe didn’t pay taxes, wasn’t a plumber and never voted. That didn’t stop Senator John McCain from turning Joe into the central talking point of his failed run for the White House.

Joe the Plumber is considering a career in congress as Joe the Politician. His experience shoveling crap should come in handy.

Infamous Plumber #2 – Thomas Crapper

Speaking of crap…Thomas Crapper is the guy who invented the toilet. Except that he didn’t.

He actually manufactured them in Europe around WWI. Soldiers coming back from the front brought together Crapper’s name and the toilet. They saw the words “T. Crapper” printed on the tanks and coined the slang “crapper” meaning toilet.

He served as the royal sanitary engineer for England’s King but was never knighted. Crapper continues to get dumped on today as some historians doubt his very existence.

Infamous Plumber #1 – The Roman Plumberi

I’m cheating but there wasn’t just one bad plumber in ancient Rome. They were all criminally negligent.

Early plumbers used lead pipes in the homes of their affluent clients. Lead poisoning is a commonly accepted explanation for the dementia of Roman emperors like Caligula and Nero.

Illness spread to the populace as indoor plumbing became common practice. Citizens migrated away, the capital moved and the empire splintered. The fall of Rome brought a thousand years of medieval squalor and sickness to the world.

Never underestimate the importance of a good plumber!

The Top 5 Most (In)Famous Plumbers in History is a post from the eLocalPlumbers.com Plumbing Blog

Related posts:

1. Why Plumbers Need Websites
2. Green Mechanical Council Launches New Online Career Center
3. The Toilet Leaks When Flushed. What Should I Do?

Yet many people don’t realize we must remain diligent in preventing fats, oils and grease discharges down our drains.

Cooking fats, oil and grease (FOG) are leading causes of clogged drains, back-ups, and sewage spills.

Keeping FOG out of your drains will keep the plumber away, save you money, prevent embarrassing backups, and inconvenient messy cleanups.

So where’s the grease? How can we trim the fat from our sewers and keep our pipes running smoothly?

Below is a list of many typical pipe-clogging foods to avoid washing down drains:

• Oil and butter
• Mayonnaise and sour cream
• Cheese
• Sauces and dips
• Salad dressing
• Cake frosting
• Pie dough
• Gravy
• Turkey and chicken pan drippings
• Fat remaining on plates from BBQ’d steak

Eating a healthy diet, low in fat is great for our bodies.

By also placing our drains on fat-free diets, we help protect the environment and do our part to keep city costs down. Now that’s got to make you feel good all over!

Tips for fat-free drains:

Scrape food and grease from plates into the trash – garbage disposals don’t remove grease.

Place a strainer in your sink drains.

Pour off cooking grease from pans and bake ware into a resealable can. Let it cool before placing it in the trash.

Collect turkey frying oil and take it to the local household collection facility for free. The tallow company picks it up and recycles it.

For more tips on how to stop The Clog, go to ClogBusters.org or visit us on Facebook to become a Clog Busters fan and receive updates.

Clog Prevention Tip: Be Grease Aware is a post from the eLocalPlumbers.com Plumbing Blog

Related posts:

1. Keeping Your Holidays Clog Free
2. Clog Busters: Stop the Clog
3. Don’t Let “The Clog” Spoil Your Holiday

Our experts talked about the specific limitations of going green and suggested the best ways to spend your money if you want to join the green movement. Interested in what they had to say? We pick our top 5 comments here.

Blog-Off #3 Re-Cap

For our third Blog-Off, we asked a panel of expert interior designers, contractors, and manufacturers to weigh in on the following question:

How do you think going green constrains homeowners in the design/remodeling process? Are there any limitations or sacrifices required? How does cost play into this: do you think homeowners sacrifice hard-earned money by going green? Where is the overlap between being cost effective and going green?

Later this week we will be releasing the 20 best ways to go green on a budget, but, in advance of that, we wanted to give credit where credit is due by highlighting the best comments we received and presenting them with one of five awards: most insightful, most unique, best articulated, most thought-provoking, and best advice.




eLocal Blog-Off #3 Comment Awards




Most Insightful Comment

Mary Kennedy Thompson of Mr. Rooter had the most insightful comment:

“I think going green actually gives homeowners different options rather than constraining them. While it often costs more initially, the long-range savings is a huge consideration…Homeowners wanting to make the first steps toward a “green” friendly household should consider changing their habits. For example, they can encourage their families to reduce the length of showers, turn water off while shaving and brushing their teeth. These changes don’t cost anything, and the savings can be substantial.”

Our experts gave a lot of great advice and tips on going green, but few looked at the more intrinsic ways we can embody the green movement. Mary encourages us to look at the problem of wastefulness from the most fundamental angle—our habits. A lot of environmentally unfriendly practices stem from our day-to-day actions, such as leaving water running, not recycling, etc. Mary acknowledged actionable ways we can be more eco friendly, but she relates it back to our everyday choices.

See the rest of Mary’s comment here.




Most Unique Comment

Larry Dimock from The Circuit Detective and Bruce Irving of renovationadvice.blogspot.com both had a new perspective on the green trend. Larry said:

“Green seems like a fashion, a fad, a bandwagon, and an old-fashioned sales pitch. Snake oil even.”

Bruce had a similar opinion:

“I bring a certain Yankee skepticism to the whole green movement. To reveal my cards, I saw the rising tide of green stuff as mostly a marketing gambit. The real greenness comes from being smart in how you build, not what kind of gadget you buy. So here’s a sampling of my take on the topic: the greenest square foot is the one you don’t build.”

A lot of our experts were quick to point out that they are not a fan of the phrase “going green” because it has a trendy stigma associated with it. Both Larry and Bruce point out how some green proponents have used sustainability as a marketing ploy, detracting from the altruistic intentions of the movement’s forerunners. Bruce says that the real “greenness” comes from building green; that is, making sure the core of your home is green rather than adding a new gadget here and there.

See the rest of Larry’s and Bruce’s comments.


Best Articulated Comment

This award goes to Lynn Schrage of KOHLER:

“One approach to sustainable design is to create an environment that can stand the test of time and continues to function for the family as they progress through different life stages in their home. One may remodel their kitchen or bath once every 10-15 years, so we need to be forward thinking as we plan the space.”

Lynn encapsulated the main theme present in most of the experts’ answers: there are countless ways to go green, but the most important factor is making sure whatever you implement is easy to maintain and has a long shelf life. Homeowners should never go green just for the sake of being trendy, but rather they should ensure the changes they are considering are timeless.

Overall, Lynn’s comment gave a lot of information on ways to go green to get the most out of the investment. You can see the rest of Lynn’s comment here.




Most Thought-Provoking Comment

This award goes to Kelly Fallis from Remote Stylist:

“The term green should seriously be banished; we’re far too into the mixed messaging for society to ever get on the same page. The question remains what is a more appropriate word?”

As mentioned before, a lot of our experts showed ill feelings toward the term “going green.” Kelly first raised this sentiment, challenging her fellow experts to agree upon a more appropriate word. This made us think: what would be a more appropriate word now that “green” has been turned into a marketing fad adopted by trendsetters worldwide? Possible buzz words include eco, sustainability, and responsibility. Though our experts didn’t come to a consensus, one message was clear: homeowners need to look at the green movement separate from its reputation.

See the rest of Kelly’s comment here.




Best Advice

DeAnna Radaj from Bante Design gave the best advice:

“Where is the overlap between being cost effective and going green? It depends on where the consumers VALUES lie…to some, being environmentally friendly in their design (and lifestyle choice) is of HIGH VALUE to them, so the “cost effectiveness” is nullified by the high value they place on being “GREEN.” For homeowners on a smaller budget, installing low-flow faucets & shower heads in the bathroom & kitchen, buying from LOCAL sources (cuts down on transportation costs/emissions), using NO VOC paints/stains/adhesives/carpeting, reducing packing on items purchased (includes groceries, bath/body items…), becoming more educated on label reading, planting a garden/farmers markets, recycle/repurpose when possible…A little can go a long way! Every person implementing just one “eco-friendly/GREEN” practice into their life/home can make a HUGE difference to their health, the local economy and creating a more sustainable planet.”

DeAnna gave a lot of actionable advice for homeowners looking to go green on a smaller budget. From recycling/repurposing to educating yourself, DeAnna touches on a lot of the suggestions our experts made for going green. However, she went above and beyond by reminding homeowners that the cost associated with green living is directly related to what they value. If you are looking to save money, that is going to outweigh some green options. If you value eco living over price, then the options are limitless. Being green will always be a trade off between values and capabilities, so knowing what you value will eliminate sacrifices down the road.

See the rest of DeAnna’s comment here.

Blog-Off #3: Prevailing Thoughts from our Experts on Going Green’s Limitations is a post from the eLocalPlumbers.com Plumbing Blog

Related posts:

1. Blog-Off #2: Prevailing Thoughts from Our Experts on 2011 Home Improvement Trends
2. Blog-Off #3: The Limitations of Going Green
3. eLocal Blog-Off #1: The Final Word from the Prevailing Home Improvement Experts