Get To Know ECOS®, The Pioneer In Green Cleaning

Since 1967, this purpose-driven brand has been on a mission to create safer, sustainable, plant-powered household products. Learn more about how it all began and what the company’s latest innovations are

Tell us how ECOS got its start. What inspired Van Vlahakis to want to create safer, earth-friendly household products?

ECOS® was founded by Van Vlahakis, a Greek immigrant who came to Chicago in 1953 with $22 in his pocket. He earned a degree in Chemistry and began to work in the cleaning products industry. After seeing the toxic effects of conventional cleaning chemicals, he started making safer cleaning products in his garage in 1967, looking to natural cleaners like vinegar and lemon in his native Greece for inspiration. His idea was revolutionary for its time: Make safer cleaning products using the power of nature, without harsh chemicals, and make them affordable for everyone. Over 50 years later, ECOS is still family owned and operated, now led by Van’s daughter Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks. ECOS’s mission is still the same today as it was in 1967, to protect the health and wellness of people, pets, and the planet by creating the most authentic, sustainable, and affordable cleaning products for all.

That’s an inspiring story! Tell us what’s unique about ECOS products.

ECOS cleaners are made with sustainable, plant-based ingredients such as coconut and bamboo and made without dyes, parabens, phosphates, phthalates, pearlizers or optical brighteners. ECOS products are readily biodegradable and greywater- and septic-safe, and over 200 ECOS products are certified Safer Choice by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. ECOS products are also made in the USA using thoughtfully sourced global ingredients, in facilities in California, Washington, Illinois and New Jersey.

And what does Safer Choice mean?

The U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice program is the gold standard of third-party green certifications. Safer Choice is designed to help shoppers quickly and easily find cleaning products that are safer for their health and the health of the planet. Safer Choice certification means that every ingredient is the safest in its class; that the product has met high standards for performance; and that the manufacturer is continually innovating new, greener products and better, recyclable packaging. ECOS is a leader in the Safer Choice program, with over 140 ECOS® products certified Safer Choice, and we have been named the U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice Partner of the Year four times.

You’re a Climate Positive company. What does that mean?  

Climate Positive means giving back to the earth more than you take. At ECOS, we’ve built a foundation of carbon neutrality, water neutrality and zero waste, and now we’re going beyond neutral by rethinking everything about the way we do business to make a positive impact on our planet. Our first step is to reduce what we use and what we emit. We find new ways to reduce energy usein every corner of our business, from generating our own solar energy onsite at our facilities to using high-efficiency, smart lighting systems. We save water in our products and at our facilities, by creating more concentrated formulas and by minimizing water use in our operations. And we dramatically reduce our carbon emissionsby using low-emissions shipping partners, using post-consumer recycled content in our bottles to reduce our use of virgin plastics, and dramatically reducing our waste to reduce landfill methane emissions. In fact, we’ve reduced our waste by over 95% over the past 12 years, making us one of the few companies to have earned Platinum-level TRUE Zero Waste certification. Once we’ve reduced our impact as much as possible, we find ways to restore the earth by investing in projects that help heal our planet, like clean wind energy and water restoration programs for critically endangered ecosystems. We give back to the planet 110% of what we use or emit, so we can be not just neutral but Climate Positive. 

What are your latest innovations? 

Our green science R&D lab (which is also woman-led) recently launched three innovative new products. ECOSNext™ is a liquidless, powderless laundry detergent square that’s super easy to use – just toss in the washer. It’s a true no-waste laundry solution - each square is completely dissolvable and the packaging is 100% recyclable. It’s dermatologist-tested hypoallergenic, like all of our laundry detergents, and made with the same great plant-powered ingredients without dyes, optical brighteners, parabens or phthalates.

What other new products and development are you most excited about and why? 

Another great new product our team developed is ECOS One-Step Disinfectant Cleaner, which has become so critical during the pandemic. Powered by hydrogen peroxide, it’s a fast and effective disinfectant that also cleans and deodorizes, killing 99.9% of germs. It contains no VOCs, harsh fumes or residual chemicals, which can be a big problem with traditional disinfectants and cleaners. 

Amazing. Any others?

We also recently launched ECOS Mother & Child Refill Kits for Dishmate® Dish Soap and All-Purpose Cleaner Orange Plus®. The smaller “child” bottle snaps right into the front of the larger “mother” bottle, giving you the volume of five containers in one compact kit that’s easy to hold, pour and store. 

That’s perfect for parents. You’re also thinking about ways to support your team. Can you explain more about that?

We’re working to improve the lives of our employees, their families and our communities by being a “High Road Employer.” Sustainability has been part of our mission for over 50 years, and over the years we’ve learned that you can’t make sustainable products in an unsustainable way and be successful. Part of sustainability is the way that you support your employees and their families. We pay our employees fair minimum wage of $17 an hour and offer them family-friendly benefits like health insurance, paid sick time and paid family leave. It doesn’t just help our employees and their families; it supports local economies and strengthens our business. Paying a living wage helps create the consumers who drive our economy. We also offer our employees financial incentives for making more sustainable choices like purchasing a low-emissions vehicle or relocating closer to our facility to reduce the carbon impact of their commute. 

Does this include aspects of equality as well?

Part of being a High Road Employer is supporting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Our company is led by a woman of Greek and African American descent, and she actively promotes a culture of diversity and empowerment at ECOS. Today, over 60% of our company are Hispanic, African American, Asian or Multiracial, including 36% of management team. In addition, over 50% of our executive management team and C-suite is female, and 75% of our R&D team are women. That diversity adds tremendous value to our company, because diverse teams make better decisions and better serve our diverse customers. 

Love that. Do you have anything you want to add?

Our mission is “to protect the health and wellness of people, pets, and the planet by creating the most authentic, sustainable, and affordable cleaning products for all.” Making safer, greener products that are affordable and accessible for ALL people is the heart of what we do. Because we manufacture our products ourselves, we can make safer cleaning products that are priced at or below the cost of conventional cleaners. And because we have such wide distribution across the U.S., more people have access to those green cleaners. Green doesn’t have to be a luxury, and we want to make sure that underserved communities and communities of color have access to safer green cleaning. We also want to help make those communities safer and greener in other ways. That’s why we partner with Green For All, a non-profit organization that fighting to improve the lives of millions of people by supporting policies that create green jobs in underserved communities and promoting green technologies that reduce climate and pollution impacts to those communities, which are disproportionately affected by “dirty” industry pollution.