Green Products Maker Earth Friendly Products™ Achieves Major Sustainability Milestone
Family-Owned and -Operated Company is the First and Only Manufacturer to Achieve Carbon Neutrality, Water Neutrality and Zero Waste Platinum Certification
CYPRESS, Calif., Sept. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Earth Friendly Products™, the maker of ECOS™ environmentally friendly cleaning products and a U.S.-based green manufacturer, proudly announces its unprecedented trifecta of sustainability accomplishments: carbon neutrality, water neutrality and USZWBC Zero Waste Platinum certification. Earth Friendly Products is the first manufacturing company to achieve this unique distinction.
Family-owned and operated for nearly 50 years, Earth Friendly Products is dedicated to making environmentally friendly household products that are safer for people, pets and the planet. Founded by Van Vlahakis, a visionary pioneer in the green movement, Earth Friendly Products remains an authentic voice in the green cleaning market.
"We're very proud to continue our vision of making safer household products that are affordable for everyone." says Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, president and CEO of Earth Friendly Products. "It's important to us to manufacture exclusively in the U.S., creating local green jobs and supporting local economies for the past 50 years."
"Transparency is part of everything we do," added Jenna Arkin, product development director of Earth Friendly Products. "We've built our reputation on using the best plant-derived ingredients and disclosing our ingredients on our labels. We want consumers to know exactly what's in our products and how they're made, because we're incredibly proud of what goes into them."
After three years of actively greening its facilities and manufacturing processes, in 2013 Earth Friendly Products became carbon neutral. The company reached this achievement by switching to 100 percent renewable electricity in 2010, carefully tracking its carbon footprint and reducing emissions. The company also achieved carbon neutrality by sourcing locally and shipping locally, made possible by the strategic geographic distribution of its facilities across the U.S.
In 2015, Earth Friendly Products received the prestigious Zero Waste Platinum certification from the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council, making it the first company to have all of its manufacturing facilities certified Platinum Zero Waste, the highest possible distinction from the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council.
Most recently, in August 2016, after six years of actively reducing its water usage, Earth Friendly Products achieved water neutrality, a measure of zero net water usage reached through reducing water use and funding programs that restore water to critically depleted ecosystems. The company has been actively implementing water-saving projects for several years and has made water-efficient manufacturing and eliminating water waste top priorities. Water neutrality is part of Earth Friendly Products' long-term commitment to minimizing its environmental impacts.
"We're enormously proud of all three of these sustainability achievements," says Vlahakis-Hanks. "We hope to serve as a model of sustainable business practices for other manufacturing companies to follow, and we encourage them to join us in our fight to protect our health, and the health of our planet, so future generations will have a clean and beautiful planet to enjoy."
"Earth Friendly Products is proving that companies can be successful and profitable while meeting the highest standards of sustainability," says David Levine, co-founder and CEO of the American Sustainable Business Council. "This company is leading the way on some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time—climate, water and waste. More impressively, they've achieved these goals while paying their employees a living minimum wage and providing them great benefits. These accomplishments represent a standard of excellence that all companies should work toward."
ABOUT EARTH FRIENDLY PRODUCTS
Family owned and operated since 1967, Earth Friendly Products is the maker of ECOS™ Laundry Detergent and over 200 other environmentally friendly cleaners that are safer for people, pets and the planet. Made with plant-derived ingredients, ECOS™ and Baby ECOS™ cleaners are thoughtfully sourced, free of formaldehyde and dyes, pH balanced, readily biodegradable, and never tested on animals. As a primary manufacturer, Earth Friendly Products makes its own products in sustainable manufacturing facilities located throughout the U.S. The company has received many awards for its innovations in safer green chemistry, including the U.S. EPA's coveted Safer Choice Partner of the Year. All Earth Friendly Products facilities are carbon neutral, water neutral and Zero Waste Platinum certified, saving over 53 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually and diverting over 95% of all waste from landfills and incineration through recycling and reuse. ECOS™ products are available at selected major retailers throughout the U.S. and in over 60 countries and online at www.ecos.com and www.babyecos.com.
SOURCE Earth Friendly Products
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