// SUSTAINABILITY //
Big Ideas, Smart Packages Founders of Influential Cannabis Companies Talk Sustainability By Taylor McLamb If being more sustainable was at the top of your New Year’s resolution list this year, achieving that goal could be a bit daunting when buying cannabis at a dispensary. Breaking through the layers of plastic when opening you favorite edibles or flower is not only time consuming, it’s wasteful. The nonrecyclable material, extraneous labeling, and paper waste all come at a heavy cost to the environment. Cannabis could save the world, but if each company doesn’t do their part to focus on sustainability, then this industry could diminish all of the benefits that the plant brings. Let’s take a look at a few companies striving to create a greener future. Cole Gibbs, Founder and CEO of Dama Distributing Colorado-based Dama Distributing develops sustainable, home-compostable, plant-based packaging for a variety of industries, including cannabis. Dama creates its child-resistant packaging products using recyclable materials, such as glass, bamboo, and hemp plastics. “The child resistant (CR) packaging side of things is kind of the biggest hurdle, more than anything. We don’t necessarily need CR packaging for every single cannabis product. So that makes it very difficult, especially when you get into dry flower and all the new drinks that are coming out and making those CR. Also, making it out of a sustainable package as well is kind of difficult. So luckily they’ve eliminated all these exit bag rules and double packaging rules and even
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Cannabis & Tech Today // Fall 2021
Cole Gibbs and Dama Distributing's products.
implemented some new sustainability laws in several states, which allow consumers to take back their cannabis packaging to the dispensary. And that can either be washed or sanitized and reused or shredded and turned back into a multi-use item like a rolling tray or a Frisbee or anything of that nature. So, there are some great things moving in the cannabis industry, but I think due to the rules and regulations, the biggest thing more than anything else is labeling. Usually, you have a label for who produced it. You have another label of the company that’s selling it. Next, you have your compliance label when you actually sell the product at point of sale. So there’s a lot of labeling that goes into it. And a lot of those labels are produced via thermal print, which are not recyclable or compostable. So, I think eliminating a lot of this extra labeling and marking would help the sustainability aspect of the packaging as well.” Bill Ludlow, Founder, President, and CEO of Crativ Packaging Crativ offers packaging solutions for the cannabis industry focused on durability, science, compliance, and sustainability. Crativ uses recycled plastic, chemical-free recycled foam in its inserts, and owns its own supply chain, which decreases the company’s carbon footprint. “Research shows that 80% of littering is intentional and performed by individuals, that’s you and me, that’s us, that’s the consumer. We have to take control, we have to be a part of the solution. Should we ban plastics to protect ourselves from the idiots that we are? It’s not the answer.
