What Does EWG Verified Actually Mean — and Why Should You Care?
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You've probably seen the EWG Verified badge on a product and thought "okay, that seems like a good thing" — but maybe you weren't totally sure what it actually means, or whether it matters. Let's break it down clearly, because it genuinely does matter, and EcoGlo has it.
Who is EWG?
The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit organization that's been researching the health impacts of everyday consumer products for decades. They're best known for their Skin Deep database and their Guide to Healthy Cleaning — free tools that let you look up practically any product and see how its ingredients score on health and safety. They're the organization journalists call when a story breaks about hidden chemicals in household products. They don't take money from the industries they rate.
So what does EWG Verified mean, specifically?
EWG Verified is a step above the regular EWG rating system. Getting a good EWG score is relatively achievable. Getting EWG Verified is considerably harder. This designation is awarded to only the top 2.5% of products — and to earn it, a company has to meet all of the following: Heritage Park Laundry
Every ingredient must be fully disclosed — including fragrance ingredients, which companies are normally allowed to hide behind the single word "fragrance" on a label. No exceptions, no proprietary blends. EWG's team of toxicologists and chemists reviews the full formulation. Every ingredient has to avoid EWG's "Unacceptable" list — substances with known or suspected links to cancer, hormone disruption, or other serious health concerns. The product has to meet strict standards for manufacturing transparency, and the formula has to be submitted for EWG scientific review.
When a product is EWG Verified, it means it meets EWG's strict, scientific standards for transparency and health, scrutinized by a team of toxicologists, chemists, and epidemiologists. EWG
Why does it matter for laundry detergent specifically?
Because laundry detergent is one of the products with the most misleading marketing in your home. Words like "natural," "gentle," "green," and even "free and clear" have no regulated definition. A brand can slap any of those words on a plastic jug regardless of what's inside. Third-party verification from an organization like EWG is the only way to know those claims hold up.
It also matters because detergent residue stays in your clothes. Unlike a product you rinse off your hands, laundry detergent sits against your skin all day long, every day. That makes the ingredient question more important, not less.
What about brands that score well on EWG but aren't Verified?
A good EWG score is still meaningful — it means the ingredients are generally considered safe. But EWG Verified goes further, because it also requires full transparency. A brand can score well on EWG's rating scale while still hiding some ingredient information. Verified means nothing is hidden, and EWG's scientists have reviewed the actual formulation.
EcoGlo and EWG
EcoGlo is EWG Verified. We pursued it because we wanted our customers to have the most rigorous third-party confirmation available that what we say is in our product is actually in our product — and that nothing harmful is hiding in the formula.
Our five ingredients — sodium percarbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium gluconate, and sodium chloride — are all disclosed, all screened, and all on EWG's safe list. When you see the EWG Verified badge on our bag, it means a team of scientists who owe us nothing confirmed that.
That's what the badge means. Now you know.