ECOS Joins Green For All in Coronavirus Fight

Green-cleaning pioneer ECOS®, the maker of safer laundry detergents and household cleaning products, is partnering with Green For All, a program of the non-profit group Dream Corps, founded by civil rights activist Van Jones, to help vulnerable communities facing imminent and long-term impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As ECOS ramps up its production of hand soap and other urgently-needed cleaning products to meet unprecedented global demand, it is committed to ensuring that the needs of all communities, especially those most vulnerable economically, are met during this health crisis.

Green For All is a national program that is working to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Green For All works at the intersection of the environmental, economic justice, and racial justice movements to advance solutions to pollution that uplift low-income families and communities of color.

The COVID-19 outbreak poses additional challenges to these communities, which are impacted first and worst by crisis, climate change, income inequality, and pollution. ECOS and Green For All are working with lawmakers to ensure those who are impacted most by the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing economic crisis are prioritized in emergency relief and long-term recovery policy solutions.

Underserved communities, including communities of color, are disproportionately exposed to air pollution, which increases cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. These are two of the underlying health conditions that put people into a higher risk category if they come into contact with the virus that causes COVID-19. These at-risk communities are the focus of advocacy efforts by ECOS and Green For All for immediate and long-term economic relief.

To support Green For All’s advocacy programs, ECOS is donating $1 for every 100-ounce or larger ECOS Hypoallergenic Laundry Detergent it sells during the month of April 2020, up to $100,000 every year for two years.

“The health and wellness of people and the planet are at the very heart of what we do,” said Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, president and CEO of ECOS.

“It’s always been our mission to make green cleaning accessible to everyone through safer, affordable products. We’re honored to partner with Green For All to help ensure that struggling families get the financial and community support they need during this crisis.”

“In the fight to make communities safer during this crisis, I am proud to see companies like ECOS partnering with programs like Green For All to step up for the people who are being hit hardest,” said Van Jones. “It’s that kind of innovation and empathy that our world needs most right now.”

In a recent feature on Vlahakis-Hanks, Forbes Magazine said ECOS products are in high demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Skin is your largest organ; if you’re washing it 20 times per day you want something that’s not going to irritate. If you have harsh products, you’re not going to want to use them, and that makes you more susceptible to getting ill,” Vlahakis-Hanks was quoted as saying.

Forbes explained this is “why people are snapping up cases of her ECOS brand soaps faster than Amazon, Walmart, Costco and Sam’s Club can restock them.”

Related: Cleaning Might Never Be the Same After the Coronavirus Era