After working in the legal medical cannabis industry for a number of years, in various roles and from different vantage points, I noticed something. The majority of people I worked with cared very much about the environment, and do whatever they can to operate sustainably and responsibly. Some recycle toilet roll tubes and paper towels. Some reclaim water. Some even recycle soil. Many a plastic plant pot and glass jar are carefully washed by hand so that they can be reused.
None of them recycles gloves or other unmarked plastics, because they are not conventionally recyclable. Some throw mercury-containing lightbulbs into the dumpster. Some even throw easily recyclable cardboard into the dumpster as they are not served (for whatever reason) by the municipal recycling program and do not have the staff to dedicate to taking care of it themselves. Then there’s the packaging, and the batteries, and all the rest of the waste stream that results from seed to sale (and use) that is not conventionally recyclable.
It felt not-so-great to be working in an environmentally conscious atmosphere, with dedicated people, to know that one’s work is generating waste that goes to the landfill. Every time I stepped out of a protective suit or peeled off a pair of gloves I noticed.
So when I found myself outside (as in no longer employed by a cannabis-related business) and naturally inclined toward quality control, I conceived and conducted a nice and accurate research study to see if legal cannabis could be a zero-waste industry. Cannabis production (including testing for R&D and compliance) can create big waste, it’s an issue that has made headlines:
Big cannabis is creating big waste – and it needs to stop
this does not have to be the case…
As I proceeded to collect, analyse, and quantify each and every piece of plastic packaging, each and every glove, the data went into a spreadsheet, which informed another format and I had proof – proof that everything can actually be actually recycled actually, as long as it’s not contaminated with food or pesticides. One simply has to know how. And be willing to pay for it. In the words of the representative I spoke with at TerraCycle, “sustainability costs”. Which is the factor that finally led me to stop my voluntary, self-funded research program. But the data is still there, and so is the solution. TerraCycle will even work with a company’s marketing people for custom branding.
So start recycling and feel even better!
Now, I want to use the lovely data that my study generated to build an app that anyone can use to make it feel good to measure their recycling and its impact. If there are any developers out there who feel inspired to contribute towards the project, do please get in touch.
Thank you for reading this far.
matildaenterprises@nmsurf.com
Matilda Enterprises, LLC 