DO NO HARM
As legal cannabis continues to rightfully imprint itself upon the American capitalist landscape, the breakneck expansion of the industry also carries with it one of the common drawbacks of big business—abnormal and excessive damage to the environment, including contributing to devastating climate change.
Such environmental havoc caused by legal weed operations occurs on several levels, often simultaneously, from diminishing vital water resources to adding to already overloaded waste landfills. And while it is true that illegal, black-market bud businesses are equally culpable of violating Mother Nature, the focus of this article will be on the legally sanctioned industry, as it is obviously much easier to hold legitimate companies and cannabis professionals to regulatory standards, as well as to expect them to employ eco-friendly technology, than it is to influence the behavior of dangerous drug cartels or bands of hippies growing in the mountain wilds.
The necessity for this intensified eco-focus within the marijuana industry is found in the numbers: In 2019 alone, US and Canadian cannabis companies produced an estimated combined one million tons of waste, a figure that will surely rise as more states legalize weed, more storefronts are opened and more production companies are founded.
And although the cannabis industry has a long road ahead to become more environmentally responsible, there are individuals, organizations and companies all currently striving to improve the cannabis industry’s carbon footprint, as well as better preserve natural resources like soil and water. This feature profiles some of those who are making a difference and blazing the trails that the entire industry should follow in order to do everything possible to preserve our natural world so that it can keep on producing the plant we love and cherish.
The NCIA Report
The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) unites and represents cannabis companies while also wisely prioritizing eco-stewardship. In October 2020, the trade association released a 58-page report, “Environmental Sustainability in the Cannabis Industry.” The
