PARSIPPANY — Earth Friendly Products held a ribbon cutting celebration on Wednesday, April 22 at its new manufacturing facility where the company manufactures green cleaning products. The facility is located at 50 Lackawanna Avenue.
Family owned and operated since 1967, Earth Friendly Products is a team of mothers, fathers, chemists, visionaries and pioneers who passionately uphold the idea that everyone should have access to delightfully toxin-free products. Making ECOS® in their five carbon-neutral plants has enabled us to keep prices low and quality high, shattering myths that buying “green” has to be expensive.
The company, began making its products in New Jersey in 1989, starting in Westwood and moving to Norwood in 2007, needs more space as demand for its Ecos laundry detergent and other products has grown and has relocated its Northeastern operations to Parsippany. The Parsippany operation, one of five divisions, serves retailers on the East Coast, as well as markets in Europe and the Middle East.
Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, the daughter of Earth Friendly Products founder Van Vlahakis, is the company’s Chief Executive Officer.
About 50 people previously worked in two buildings totaling about 46,000 square feet in Norwood, a number that rose to about 60 in the new 80,000-square-foot on Lackawanna Avenue.
Earth Friendly was founded in 1967 by her father, Van Vlahakis, a Greek immigrant who was unhappy with the chemicals in the cleaners he worked on in his first jobs as a chemist.
The company is privately held and does not release sales numbers, but Vlahakis-Hanks said sales have quadrupled in the last five years, as large national retailers, including Walmart and Costco, have begun carrying their products. In the early years, the products were carried mostly by health and natural food stores.
The new location is in a building formerly occupied by the shipping company DHL. Earth Friendly renovated the building with an eye to the environment, using solar panels, recycled materials and paint that is low in volatile organic compounds. The company is seeking to have the property certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building.
“Each of us can make a positive change in the way we live our lives to be part of a solution to preserve our planet. That’s why I choose Earth Friendly Products for my cleaning needs. They are naturally fresh, effective and safe for my health and the environment.” said Debbie Levin, Environmental Media Association.
Earth Friendly Products achieved carbon neutrality as a result of major sustainability initiatives, including the switch to 100% renewable electricity starting in 2010. Earth Friendly Products now saves 53,843,434 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
