Calling Out Pesky Cannabis Litterbugs

The speed and gusto with which legal cannabis is sweeping across America is undeniably exciting. The innovation in phenotypes and advancement paraphernalia is spectacular.

All, however is not perfect in this brave new green world, and as we’ll see below, some of our petrochemical demons are growing larger and more destructive than ever before.

Our friends up in Canada have reported that for every gram of cannabis sold, there are over 70 grams of plastic, foil, and packaging that came with it, a very sorry statistic indeed.

Licensed Los Angeles cannabis waste disposal GAIACA figured the industry was pumping out in excess of 150 million TONS of waste each year back in 2020, and lord knows what it’s at today.

The Rooster is calling cannabis waste “the new water bottle” and figures in terms of a traditional opaque plastic tube containing 7 grams of flower. There’s nearly 4 grams worth of plastic waste. A half-eighth container could have a plastic-to-pant ratio of nearly 6:1 in terms of packaging-to-flower. 

I can’t be the only one who thinks these kind of statistics, even if overstated, are depressing as fuck? Why the hell is such a green industry so opposite when it comes to regard or lack thereof, the rest of green earth?

If you live in a legal state, you’ve undoubtedly seen single-use plastic flower canisters and pre-roll tubes littering sidewalks, parks, and other otherwise idyllic places. 

Of course, when something is legalized recreationally to the public along with increased awareness and participation, there will inevitably be an increase in the amount of shallow, ignorant, lazy people that come along as well.

As far as I can surmise, this seems to be the case with cannabis, wherein by going mainstream, the entire industry has opened itself up to common mainstream problems, like the prevalence of single-use plastics. 

Every picture in this post was snapped over the course of a single week while casually strolling around my neighborhood. No, I don’t walk all day every day; there really is this much canna-waste around us, which is one of the reasons I’m writing this very rant you’re reading! 

Nobody expected legalization to go perfectly, and nobody can say it has. From unequal permit issuance processes to the all too common “race to the bottom” model of hyper vaLuE-oriented capitalism, cannabis is experiencing the same challenges other industries have been facing forever.

That said, I’ve always held cannabis to a higher standard, at least when it comes to being environmentally aware; the core product, after all, is a plant.

As such, the idea that you go and spend $7 on a pre-roll of some sticky natural goodness only to casually toss the plastic tube it came in on the ground strikes me as one of America’s most perplexing cultural contradictions. 

Perhaps I’m idolizing a surfer-dominated stoner culture ruled by iron-clad hippie law that rarely took to single-use plastics. If they did, they were quickly and quietly disposed of more out of embarrassment than anything else. 

Perhaps this morally altruistic stoner culture never existed, and I’m an idealist, but even if that’s the case, I firmly believe pursuing such a future culture to be one of the most critically relevant unrealized objectives of the legal cannabis industry. 

Green Ought To Respect Green

Stupid to care so much about the genetics, terroir, and careful cultivation of cannabis only to trash the rest of the surrounding landscape. Akin to seeing hundreds of empty wine bottles strewn about wine country, except it’s worse because at least glass can be more easily recycled, heck, even redeemed for money at recycling centers.

Consumer Driven PR 

In a world where federal restrictions make mainstream advertising and PR channels largely unavailable to cannabis brands (think Adsense, large PR firms not working with cannabis brands, and walled-off financial systems), consumers become a more critical element in building and growing a brand. 

So much of cannabis is still grassroots. The best flower recommendations are word of mouth. The best marketing a dispensary can have is simply curating the best quality herb possible. The best marketing a farm can have is having customers demand their product at the aforementioned dispensaries.

Why Make Enemies?

In a continuation of the consumers driving public relations thought train, it’s worth pondering the potential larger implications of mass cannabis packaging littering our cities, suburbs, and rural hiking paths. 

This kind of reckless behavior not only doesn’t contribute to growing the cannabis community in any way, it actually works against it, turning impartial non-tokers into anti-tokers simply because they can easily identify the trash and tie it to a “community.” 

Cannabis has been on a tear, and I’m pumped and optimistic about its future. That said, things could grow faster, more people could curiously wander into their first dispensary, and society at large would be so much chiller if we could present cannabis in a transparently honest and constructive light. 

Obvious canna-litter does the opposite; it has a galvanizing effect on the opposition. Trying to find a quiet out of the way discreet place to actually take a puff that isn’t your own property is already a tough enough task.

We don’t need to give people any more reason to be anti-weed and casual walkers, hikers, and park enjoyers are closer to becoming allies than enemies. That opportunity is lost when they detect patterns in the common type of litter found in their favorite areas to rest and relax. 

Being The Change We Wish To See 

Alright, enough with the negativity. Clearly, plastic litter is bad; what is a morally conflicted pothead to do about it? Well, it’s a complex problem that will require a concerted bottom-up effort to change, which isn’t as scary as it sounds because that’s exactly how we got legal cannabis in the first place! 

Before digging into various types of proactive solutions to our current problem, I want to express a heartfelt thanks to all you OGs out there who organized events, signed petitions, rallied your local communities, lobbied your local governments, non-violently resisted discriminatory drug laws, saved seeds and perpetuated genetics.

We’d have nothing today if it weren’t for your work, and the fast cannabis legalization sweeps the country, the faster people seem to forget that this was hard fought and continues to be in so many places, not just in the U.S. but around the world! 

Stem The Flow, Disrupt The Cycle

First and foremost, every single cannabis lover has the ability to become a significantly impactful diamond that can halt gears and disrupt the corporate machinations of the Goliath that is the cannabis plastics industry. 

While the industry is still fragmented, and before big financial interests get their lobbyists to bribe Congress to erect impenetrable walled gardens around cannabis-centered petrochemical companies, we can grind the machine to a halt guerilla warfare style. 

Invest In Reusable Dispensary Jars

Based on my interactions, I’d say well over half of the dispensaries, after I’ve picked out my bud and asked the budtender if they wouldn’t mind putting it in my jar, have had them happily oblige. 

Yes, these are only practical if you live in a deli-style state and not a mandatory pre-packaged state, which is probably one of the most absurd regulations yet and one of the biggest reasons I strongly believe deli-style dispensary experiences are superior to pre-packaged markets.

Everything below pertains to deli-style serving, so if you can’t do this, feel free to skip to the next tip!

At the very beginning of my cannabis exploration, I re-used a handful of the pog-sized plastic tubes I got with my first couple of purchases.

Since these containers are all already “approved” for cannabis sales because idk the lids are kind of a pain in the ass to open but not that child-proof either (welcome to regulation purgatory bitch!). They make natural process disruptors allowing you to single-handedly refuse to contribute any more to canna-waste. 

Once Oregrown started carrying Re:Stash jars, that was it; game over. These joyfully customizable jars help me stem the flow of plastic waste, and they’re just plain cool! I’m not sorry that this sounds like an advertisement because I honestly believe EVERY dispensary should be carrying these things, and more smokers should make the switch. 

The core technology of the Re:Stash jar is the bio-fiber lids that incorporate 30% repurposed farm waste and hemp fibers to make a “child-resistant” lid that is also much easier to open than the single-use plastic lids (great if you’re a dexterity limited med patient for example) and they have a nice texture and feel to them as well.

The silicone sleeves come in all colors and make a great canvas for your dispensary’s branding or any other kind of artwork. In the core is a simple Ball glass jar with a lid that is sealed tightly under the bio-fiber top lid. 

I like the mission companies like Re:Stash are undertaking, I like how Ball jars keep my flower fresh, and I like not having plastic or glass + plastic forced upon me every time I visit a dispensary. Hopefully, one day the entire country can bathe in the luxury that is deli-style dispensaries. 

If you’re a store manager or buyer, please look at these amazing products. If you’re a budtender, maybe you can suggest them to your bosses. There is a large amount of overlap between the eco-conscious crowd and the cannabis crowd, and dispensaries that make efforts to cater to these folks stand to earn some loyal shoppers, at the least, and contribute to cleaner earth at scale. 

In the meantime, we can still do things as a community to combat the canna-waste problem that are a little more downstream in terms of the process but can also be very impactful.

Picking Up Trash Whenever Possible

Cleaning garbage is an awesome thing and something I plan to spend more time doing this year. As an aside, if you’re looking to get serious about it, the world of pickers, grabbers, pokers, bag holders, and high-vis vests is a mildly fascinating one, so be prepared to open a couple of dozen tabs during your research phase! 

Until my claw and bag came in the mail, and for the last few years, I’ve been selectively picking up trash on walks and hikes. 

Nothing beats a full crew with the right equipment making a concerted effort to rid an entire geographic space of ALL garbage, but there’s no reason to limit ourselves to only those moments. It’s best to make some progress rather than wait for perfection, right?

As such, there are some places, like hiking trails, wooded/wildlife areas, and sidewalks around where I live that are perpetually strewn with cannabis-related garbage.

When I’m out, whether it be a quick jaunt to the grocery store or a slow stroll back from the tap house, if I see a pre-roll tube or plastic canister, I’ll generally try to pick it up.

But the problem is unrelenting.

As much as it sounds like it, this isn’t intended as a virtue flex but to illustrate how we can have an impact starting TODAY and how, collectively, these small actions can add up in aggregate over time. 

Picking up pre-roll tubes isn’t a very messy affair either, compared to many other types of litter like food waste, broken glass, or syringes, for example. In fact, it can be somewhat exciting to see what strain, from which dispensary, harvested on what date, that particular litterbug had been smoking on. 

So many public walking spaces and hiking trails are kind enough to have trash cans at the start and/or end of the route, so you usually don’t have to hold onto the plastic for that long, and if you do, well, it’s light and pretty easy to dispose of/recycle once you get home. 

Cannabis trash isn’t just ugly; it actively poses a threat to wildlife and even pets. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said cases of “marijuana poisoning” in pets are increasing by double digits annually, up a whopping 300% over the last five years.

This is only the harm we KNOW about because pets have human owners who monitor them and take them to vets. Think of all the wildlife impacted by the plastics that degrade and break into small pieces. Think of the impact on fish, birds, and their predators.

We’ve already seen how plastics that litter our waterways and oceans are now found in all levels of those food chains. We’re now seemingly doing everything we can to have similar levels of microplastic contamination in land-dwelling animals as well.

So, what can we do to combat this negative tide?

Shop Consciously, In Bulk

Oftentimes, in many mass-market mid-tier type dispensaries, pre-rolls often aren’t the best quality flower you can get. Many of these are made with shake or trim that isn’t treated quite as nicely as whole flower. As such, they tend to be on the dryer side, and because they’re all pre-packaged, it’s not uncommon to end up with pre-rolls that were harvested a year or more ago. 

As such, if you’ve decided you’re definitely “into weed,” just like with many other overly-packaged goods in modern society, such as groceries, buying in bulk when possible makes sense.

Simply going in on, say, a quarter ounce vs. getting 2 grams of this and 3 grams of that and 1 gram of this will usually mean significantly reducing the amount of packaging you’re “buying” as a consumer. 

Sampling is fun, no doubt, and smoking the gambit, in the beginning, is essential to help narrow in your preferred terpene profiles, but as soon as you feel like you’ve narrowed in on a “type” of weed, whether it be the gassy, the fruity, the racy or the sedative, then go Costco on that shit and stock up when you can. 

Also, don’t forget the cost savings associated with the bulk approach! Most dispensaries will have some variation of daily deals or points system where if you time your shopping right, you can get X% off all flower (or extracts or edibles or whatever, depending on the day and the dispensary), which can add up to a LOT of savings when buying healthy volumes. 

While selective purchasing isn’t perfect, it can at least help us minimize the amount of waste we generate so that we’re not exponentially growing the problem. 

Thinking Big Picture, Long Term

While switching to reusable containers in deli states and picking up trash are two very fundamental, very effective ways of reducing waste and painting the movement in a positive light, they’re not the only ones, as there are storms ‘a brewing that can have bigger impacts. 

States that are just starting to legalize cannabis are prime battleground locations because initial legislation can have a massive long-term ecological impact, such as allowing deli-style serving vs. requiring every goddamned thing to be wrapped up in multiple layers of plastics.

If you live in a state that’s in the process of legalization, try to dig in and find local activist groups, or shit, write a letter to your representative yourself highlighting how wasteful packaging is, how the trend with consumers is moving toward being more eco-conscious, and how much more pleasant of an experience (which is good for tourism) deli-style dispensaries are. 

Every state that doesn’t force plastic upon its consumers is a massive victory for earth. 

Personally, if I’m ever able to afford a property of my own, I fully intend to grow my own bud, mostly out of purely horticultural fascination but undeniably also to go fully green and insulate myself from the whims of corrupt government regulators, cannabis marketing ploys, and all the unnecessary ornamentation around what is just a plant. 

From what I’ve been able to gather, growing decent weed isn’t that hard, which is why it’s called weed so often in the first place. I do love my beautifully grown hype strains and trichomed-out show pieces from the various cultivation geniuses around the country. Still, I also wasn’t born into this culture and can be perfectly at peace with some homegrown, I’m sure. 

Regardless of what extreme you take your cannabis packaging activism, it will undoubtedly be an interesting next couple of decades. It’ll be interesting to see how big the problem will have to get before concise national solutions are crafted.

Still, it will also be interesting to see what other kinds of innovation and community building are birthed in antithesis to the packaging industrial complex that today runs entirely too rampant. 

One thing is for certain, plastics fucking suck. Whether they be food storage containers, water bottles, or bud canisters, we need to work together to solve this problem. Make no mistake about it; this is definitely a solvable problem! 

Also, in case you read this far to make sure that I didn’t just leave all those pieces of trash, I took pictures of, don’t worry; everything you saw in this post was picked up and disposed of. You can count on me; can we count on you?