Student Spotlight: Going green with a new way to clean

Student Spotlight: Going green with a new way to clean A senior at The Village School, Anastacia Y. already has a fully-functioning business to her name. She is the founder and owner of Elcove, an environmentally conscious company that provides a variety of cleaning product capsules and reusable bottles. Elcove’s toxin-free products aim to replace the single-use plastic bottles often found in grocery store cleaning aisles.

A senior at The Village School, Anastacia Y. already has a fully-functioning business to her name. She is the founder and owner of Elcove, an environmentally conscious company that provides a variety of cleaning product capsules and reusable bottles. Elcove’s toxin-free products aim to replace the single-use plastic bottles often found in grocery store cleaning aisles.

 

The idea for Elcove was first ignited during Anastacia’s junior year at Village. She had always suffered from allergies and after trying many solutions, her family decided to eliminate chemicals from their home, finding many within their cleaning products. Around the same time, Anastacia was taking an IB Environmental Systems and Societies class, where her teacher Dr. Michael Walker dove deeper into the harmful effects of single use plastics on the environment. 

 

In an IB Business Management class and an Entrepreneurship class, Anastacia was learning the practical side of creating and running a business. She developed the proposal for Elcove, pitched the idea in the school’s Shark Tank business pitch event, and decided to take the plunge and make Elcove a reality. Today her company is thriving, having expanded to include even more cleaning products and Anastacia is involved in everything from marketing and finance to order fulfilment. 

 

Having been at Village since kindergarten, Anastacia voices how the community’s support helped her realize her dreams, “Being in such a positive environment helped me focus on creating my business and school work at the same time, knowing that I will always have support.” Reflecting, she credits Varsity Basketball Coach Brotherton as having played a huge role in her success, “He’s been my coach through all four years now. He helped me develop grit and character. His endless support and mantra of trusting the process stuck with me and helped me through the process of creating a business and working hard on the process itself. Without him, I wouldn’t be the person I am today and wouldn’t be able to manage having a business.”

 

Coach Brotherton praises Anastacia as well, saying “Everyday she displays her strong work ethic, selfless passion to serve others, and a commitment to overcoming challenges. These same traits have allowed her to develop her own company, despite balancing the busy life of a high school student-athlete. This is just the beginning of the impact that Anastacia will make on the world and it is an honor to be a part of her journey."

 

Others are starting to take notice of Elcove- the company was featured in a Green Matters article on sustainable cleaning alternatives. Anastacia is excited for where her company is headed next,  “We hope that as we expand, we can make our products easily accessible to everyone in stores. We plan to gradually expand our product line and add more products as we grow. There are so many other household products such as dish soap, carpet cleaners, air fresheners and more that can be re-designed to be environmentally friendly while still offering the same convenience and effectiveness for consumers.” After she graduates from Village at the end of this year, Anastacia plans to pursue business in higher education and continue to grow Elcove.