The industry has a plastics problem. If you’ve bought cannabis products lately (from a dispensary or delivery service...not your local weed guy) you’ve likely experienced just how much packaging material is involved in the process—lots of plastic wrapped in more plastic. After you open your goods, are you recycling the packaging you tore through? Is it actually … [Read more...] about How Cannabis Contributes to the Global Waste Crisis, and What Experts say we can do About it
sustainability
Breathing Room: Cleaning up our Dirty air
A body can live several weeks without food; days without water; but mere minutes without air. What are we doing to this essential foundation for life? Global Realities The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 7 million people worldwide are killed by air pollution every year. Moreover, 90% of children under the age of 15—that’s 1.8 billion kids—“breathe air … [Read more...] about Breathing Room: Cleaning up our Dirty air
What Cannabis Teaches us About Water
Agriculture is the biggest water user on the planet. More than 70% of the world’s freshwater supply is used to feed crops, according to the World Bank. In the U.S., that number is closer to 80% or 90%—especially in western states. That’s because California farmers grow a majority of the nation’s food. The state produces one-third of our vegetables, and two-thirds of the … [Read more...] about What Cannabis Teaches us About Water
“We Can Act:” What Bending the COVID-19 Curve Teaches Us About the Climate Crisis
Humans are moving less. Thanks to stay-in-place orders, we're bending the COVID-19 curve, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions while we're at it. The most positive takeaway, however, may be how we respond to crisis. The Good News “Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are down, and air quality has gone up as governments react to the COVID-19 pandemic,” reports the head of … [Read more...] about “We Can Act:” What Bending the COVID-19 Curve Teaches Us About the Climate Crisis
Not So Green
The story broke on February 27 in both the Berkeley News, a publication of the University of California, Berkeley and the science journal Nature. The DNA in beer-producing saccharomyces yeast has been commandeered to make cannabinoids instead of alcohol. In the Berkeley News article, lead researcher Jay Keasling, a Berkeley professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, … [Read more...] about Not So Green