Sponsored By

Earth Friendly Products Achieves Sustainability Milestone

Earth Friendly Products has achieved: carbon neutrality, water neutrality and USZWBC Zero Waste Platinum certification.

Rebekah Marcarelli, Senior Editor

January 1, 2018

2 Min Read

Earth Friendly Products, the maker of ECOS environmentally friendly cleaning products and a U.S.-based green manufacturer, announced that it has achieved: carbon neutrality, water neutrality and USZWBC Zero Waste Platinum certification. Earth Friendly Products is the first manufacturing company to achieve this unique distinction, company officials say. 

"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," adds 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, company officials say.

"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 the Author

Rebekah Marcarelli

Senior Editor

Rebekah Marcarelli comes to the grocery world after spending several years immersed in digital media. A graduate of Purchase College, Rebekah held internships in the magazine, digital news and local television news fields. In her spare time, Rebekah spends way too much time at the grocery store deciding what to make for dinner.

Stay up-to-date on the latest food retail news and trends
Subscribe to free eNewsletters from Supermarket News