CEO Colton Griffin shares his insight on environmental sustainability in the cannabis industry in a recent article for Cannabis Business Executive.
“On the cultivation side, outdoor growers need to mitigate runoff and limit water usage, while indoor growers can reduce their carbon footprint by installing LED lights and reducing power usage,” explains Griffin. “Unlike traditional agriculture, strict government regulations on product testing rule out using pesticides, fertilizers, and many nutrients, meaning that the cannabis products we all enjoy today are probably the least toxic agriculture products we can buy.”
He further explains that the one area where we can focus environment improvement is plastics, specifically as it relates to packaging and compliance-driven regulatory requirements. “State laws require products be sold with extensive childproofing and tamper-resistant protection, such as inner and outer packaging,” said Griffin. “The problem with these measures, which go far beyond the ways similarly controlled alcoholic or tobacco products are packaged, is that they significantly increase the amount of waste in the cannabis supply chain.”
While Griffin isn’t disparaging the packaging companies, who are merely fulfilling a market need, he notes that much work remains, presenting the cannabis industry a unique opportunity to become a leader in sustainability.
“State laws require products be sold with extensive childproofing and tamper-resistant protection, such as inner and outer packaging. The problem with these measures, which go far beyond the ways similarly controlled alcoholic or tobacco products are packaged, is that they significantly increase the amount of waste in the cannabis supply chain.”
-Colton Griffin, CEO Flourish Software
To read the full article, click online here.