As the farming and processing of recreational cannabis grows across the state, so do piles of waste from the industry. But how does one earth-friendly farm that’s growing their single-serving products manage single-use waste?
“Our packaging is truly landfill biodegradable, in any landfill,” says Freya Dobson, one of two sisters that founded Hudson Cannabis, an organic and regenerative cannabis farm in Upstate New York.
They’re facing an industry with high demand that’s resulting in even higher product waste.
“At the forefront of what we do, we’re farmers and stewards of the land, so putting any of those goods into a container that is ultimately waste is tough to do,” said Dobson.
Like many, they’re weighing the options between aesthetic and eco-friendly.
“So this is, like I said, like a nice jar, right? Like from a kind of superficial standpoint, you might be like, whoa bamboo layers, this kind of frost glass. You have to think like, okay, well, yeah, I guess someone might reuse this jar, but is it even… it doesn’t even look like it’s recyclable,” said Dobson.
She was sitting at a picnic table on their farm with a cardboard box of packaging samples sent to them for their products. The same packaging options seen in dispensaries all over the country, but adding to the single-use plastic piles found in landfills.
“This is not going to be recyclable,” Dobson said. “This would also have to have a tamper seal on it, because this is open label…
