5 Ways To Make The Cannabis Industry More Sustainable

The cannabis industry has exploded, growing an unprecedented 30% in 2016 to $6.7 billion in early 2017. This profit gain happened largely as the legal markets expanded, allowing marijuana users in many states to purchase the drug recreationally. But forget the money for a second. With all this production, both by individuals and industrial growers, the environment has certainly taken a hit. Many lawmakers have sought to make sure states make their residents comply with environmental standards through more enforcement. Nonetheless, there are a number of ways to reduce the impact on the environment when it comes to weed. Here are five ways to make the cannabis industry more sustainable.

1. Alternative Transportation Practices

Like the organic on that fancy restaurant plate, the best food goes from farm to table. With cannabis, transportation is part of the process of production. The consumer can’t enjoy the green without the committed drivers transporting it to the dispensary (or your local weed dealer).

Transportation, using fossil fuels and other resources, threatens the sustainability of cannabis operations. Finding suitable, economic, and environmentally friendly ways to deliver crops to the market will help to decrease the threat many cannabis industries pose on the environment.

For those navigating these vehicles with cannabis, they acknowledge that carrying the product is a lot like transporting gold. It lacks serial numbers, customers deal in cash, and the cargo comes uninsured. For this reason, many of the vehicles are armored.

The job may be risky. But riskier would be not ensuring these vehicles leave as little carbon footprint as possible by undergoing regular maintenance.

Targeting transportation is one of the many ways to make the cannabis industry more sustainable. Energy-efficient vehicles that use fewer fossil fuels or less electricity can help to cut down on the environmental impact of transportation.

Sourcing dispensaries with weed grown locally will also aid in cutting down the toll on the environment.