For more than ten years, a small company located on Danville’s east side has been making a significant impact on the way we clean.
EnvirOx originally started in 1995 as a research project with the primary objective of developing a cleaning technology that would reduce toxicity in a meaningful way. As the company grew in recent years, a line of environmentally friendly home-cleaning products was launched, and now employees at EnvirOx are pulling double duty to produce 44,000 household cleaning kits before its national debut on the QVC shopping channel on March 18.
“QVC is a huge opportunity,” Diana Stewart-Frasure, general manager of the EnvirOx OurHouse division says.
EnivOx is a company founded on and committed to environmental sustainability throughout each facet of its work, from the production line, to the warehouse, to the company culture. They manufacture environmentally-friendly and safe cleaning products and are known for the invention of the stabilized hydrogen peroxide cleaning technology.
Recently, Smile Politely asked Stewart-Frasure a few questions over e-mail about their preparations for the national QVC debut.
SmilePolitely: How did the QVC launch come about and how has EnvirOx/OurHouse been preparing for this national debut?
EnvirOx/OurHouse: Eight months ago the EnvirOx/OurHouse management team decided to pursue additional market channels for OurHouse products. We agreed that QVC would be a great way to reach thousands of people. Two weeks later our EnvirOx VP of Sales, Larry Lopata, introduced us to a man who could put us in contact with a QVC buyer. Three weeks later we had a meeting with the QVC buyer. I traveled to QVC headquarters in Philadelphia and presented our products to the buyer. They loved our products and company mission.
Within a few months we received our first purchase order from QVC. Then the “real” work began. Since then we’ve added a second shift and brought in 40 temporary employees to help fill the purchase order. Everything has gone very well due to the dedication and commitment of our employees and managers. Our President, Taylor Stewart and I have been training for our QVC debut on March 18th. We are working directly with QVC to make this debut a great success. It has been a rigorous and challenging process.
SmilePolitely: What do you consider to be our nation’s most serious environmental problem?
EnvirOx/OurHouse: Energy and health. The energy crisis affects all individuals and businesses. If we don’t aggressively reduce our consumption, the long-term consequences could be irreversible. It is the EnvirOx/OurHouse goal to reduce our footprint on the environment while giving consumers safer, healthier products “where they live, learn, work and play.” Our health as a nation is also a serious environmental problem. “Environment” is not just about the outdoors; it includes the air, surfaces and products in our homes and inside of our bodies. No one knows the cumulative effect of the hundreds of chemicals our bodies are exposed to each day. We believe that reducing our exposure to toxic chemicals is necessary for a healthy future.
SmilePolitely: Where do you see EnvirOx’s role within the environmental landscape for the years to come?
EnvirOx/OurHouse: Our mission is to “be the best at providing environmentally preferable products that effectively meet people’s needs where they live, learn, work and play.” We only develop and manufacture environmentally preferable products, and that will never change. We also take the notion of sustainability beyond just our products and into recycling, resource conservation, and employee support and community service. We believe that leading sustainability means more than products, it means doing what is right and healthy for the future of individuals and communities. In this sense, sustainability is a moving target. As new science and information emerges, it is our responsibility to meet and exceed the highest standards in human and environmental health.
In addition to the QVC launch in less than three weeks, EnvirOx recently brought the first “Green Team” race car at the Daytona International Speedway. The car, owned by Baker Curb Racing and sponsored by EnvirOx, debuted on Feb. 9 at the ARCA 200 Race.
With the Green Team partnership, EnvirOx is hoping to transform the way professional race teams clean and degrease their garages and cars. They are supplying environmentally-preferred degreaser, Greasinator 500, to all Daytona International speedway garages to replace the existing hazardous brake and degreaser cleaners.
OurHouse products are currently available online at www.ourhouseworks.com/store/buy_ourhouse_cleaners.asp Concentrates for entire-house cleanings kits are available. A starter kit is $30 and includes products to clean surfaces, carpets, upholstery, laundry and dishes.