Earth Friendly Products in Cypress celebrates 50 years

To celebrate its 50 years as one of the country’s leading green cleaning products companies, Orange County--based Earth Friendly Products, maker of the Ecos detergent , recently hosted California political and environmental officials for an anniversary celebration in conjunction with Earth Month and in honor of Arbor Day.

The April 28 event at the company’s Cypress manufacturing facility presented a $150,000 check to the Discovery Cube Museums of Orange County and Los Angeles, and each company employee was gifted an extra week’s salary for Earth Month.

Earth Friendly Products President Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, daughter of the company’s late founder Van Vlahakis, stood at the podium to thank more than 300 guests, including employees, family, non-profit organizations, collegiate executives, Cypress Mayor Paulo Morales and representatives from the offices of U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris and Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and Brad Sherman (D-Monterey Park).

“It fills me with so much pride to be at the helm of a family owned and operated business for 50 years and to see my father’s legacy continue, Vlahakis-Hanks said. “It’s truly an honor to be in the green space at this time.”

Harris field representative, Brent Robinson, lauded the company’s $17-an-hour living wage and Scott Abrams from Sherman’s office announced that the congressman had entered a statement about Earth Friendly Products’ accomplishments into the Congressional Record.

As Vlahakis-Hanks stood at the podium, she told the story of her father, a Greek immigrant who came to the U.S. with $22.

Without knowing English, he chose to study chemistry because the root word was in his native Greek.

Today, the operation is the maker of Ecos laundry detergent and more than 200 environmentally friendly products that are made with plant-based ingredients, pH balanced, biodegradable, recyclable and never tested on animals.

The line is carried at retailers throughout the U.S. in more than 60 countries and online at ecos.com.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi