Cannabis products are displayed at the Cultivate dispensary on the first day of legal recreational... [+] marijuana sales, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, in Leicester, Mass. Cultivate is one of the first two shops permitted to sell recreational marijuana in the eastern United States, more than two years after Massachusetts voters approved it in 2016. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) State regulations make it hard for cannabis companies to focus on sustainability. That doesn’t mean they’re not trying. Despite the bad press millennials receive, as a cohort they have committed to sustainability. A full 70% of millennials will pay more for products made sustainably, while 83% consider a product’s environmental or social impact before making a purchase. They are bringing that sense of responsibility for maintaining a livable planet to the cannabis industry which is populated with young, progressive entrepreneurs. But while cannabis is a business based around agriculture, there aren’t clear rules for how to make it more sustainable. Because cannabis production and consumption have been illegal for nearly a century, there is limited data to support the design of best practices for the industry. And unlike other valuable agricultural crops, there has been virtually no publicly-funded research on how to produce cannabis most effectively and efficiently, nor which of the various cultivation methods has the smallest carbon footprint. In fact, some current building and energy codes actually force indoor growers to use more energy than necessary with requirements that can be damaging to plants unless they use high-energy consumption mitigators. Indoor cultivation uses the least amount of water, a boon for water-poor states such as California. But it’s also the most energy-intensive growing method. For example, even before legalization, 1% of all electricity used in the entire United States was consumed by cannabis. Today, almost 4% of Denver’s total electricity usage can be attributed to the crop. But that energy use in part is the result of residential and commercial building codes which haven’t considered cannabis’ unique requirements. Codes that maximize insulation requirements and are designed to improve HVAC efficiency increase the need for air filtration and dehumidification for indoor growers, leading to increased energy consumption. Many cannabis companies are doing their best to reduce their carbon footprint while continuing to meet local regulations. Some are switching to more efficient and ecologically sound methods, including LED lighting, solar power and water reclamation systems. State-of-the art greenhouses, that rely on technology to control everything from the amount and intensity of light to the ambient temperature and moisture level, are also helping with sustainability at the plant level. Another way cannabis companies are hoping to become more sustainable is through packaging changes. To date, state regulators have been concerned with a contaminant-free supply chain, appropriate labeling and keeping cannabis products out of the hands of children. That’s led to state laws, such as one in Washington state, that mandates requirements such as every product being individually wrapped. So, multi-serving packages of edibles and concentrates must have each serving be self-contained. Bottles with liquid products must provide serving cups, such as those found with cough syrup, instead of simple hash marks on the bottle. Los Angeles mandates that so-called “exit bags” for edibles be made of unrecyclable Mylar. Labeling requirements also contribute to the need for excess packaging. Despite its small size, an edible single serving in Washington state still must include two state-mandated caution logos, various written warnings and information on the licensees and product, not to mention any branding info the producer wants to include. In Massachusetts, wording on edibles labels must be at least 1/16th of an inch, and include the patient’s name; the producer’s name, registration number, telephone, mailing address and website; the name of the product; the quantity of cannabis contained in the package; the amount of THC; a list of ingredients, including the cannabinoid profile; the date it was produced and its expiration date; plus seven other pieces of information. After that, each label also must include a 49-word warning statement, some of it in all caps. Industry groups and producers are hoping technology in the form of QR codes, a type of matrix barcode which can be read by smartphones and stores URLs and other information, can help. While Indiana has not legalized cannabis, it does allow CBD products produced from hemp as long as they include QR codes. While a lot of data must still be printed directly on the label, Indiana consumers can find lots more info by scanning the code. Other states might soon follow suit, eliminating some of the excessive plastic required to cram all the mandated information onto each package. At the same time, cannabis industry groups are taking the lead on sustainability, recommending the creation of packaging recycling programs, which offer small discounts to customers for returning bags and containers. They’re also searching for ways to incentivize producers and processors to switch to sustainable containers, including biodegradable hemp plastic. Trade groups such as the Cannabis Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of an ethical and sustainable cannabis industry, are working to help find and develop compostable packaging. Companies such as TerraCycle are springing up specifically to deal with recycling cannabis packaging. As cannabis continues to grow, and emerge from prohibition in more parts of the country, the industry will continue looking for ways to decrease its carbon footprint and working toward more environmentally sound packaging from the fields to store shelves. Get the name of this top stock for the coming marijuana boom.
Cannabis companies are facing hurdles in the bid to become more sustainable. The industry is still struggling with a lack of access and regulation for medical marijuana patients, as well as an inability to compete against established players like Canopy Growth Corp. Unlike other agriculture crops, cannabis has also lacked public research into various methods of growth. For indoor growers, building regulations can exacerbate energy use, such as insulation requirements which boost the need for air filtration and dehumidification, while packaging and labelling laws require excessive plastic. Industry groups are gradually introducing changes, such as reduced packaging, LED lighting, solar power and water reclamation systems.