Addressing the Environmental Impact of Cannabis Cultivation: A Focus on Sustainable Practices

Growing cannabis, both indoors or outdoors, impacts the environment in several significant ways and one challenge of today’s cultivators is to consider how to lessen the negative effects of overwatering, pesticides, energy usage, and plastic pollution.

Environmentally conscious cannabis cultivation has been a concern for years. For example, in response to the environmental destruction from outdoor cannabis cultivation in northern California, a 2017 bill allocated funds to support four restoration projects totaling $1.3 million (1).

Last year, the Sustainable California Grown Cannabis Pilot Program (SCGC Pilot Program) was created to collect and compile data into a Best Management Practices Manual to guide outdoor cannabis cultivation (2). “One of the primary goals of regulating cannabis in California is to help address environmental benefits and concerns associated with its cultivation,” the SCGC Pilot Program website stated (2). “For example, greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction potential, sustainable land use, soil health benefits, ecological health benefits, pesticide use, and water resource management, are some of the many environmental interests associated with cannabis agriculture.” The program continues to offer grants to fund more watershed restoration (1).

“Cannabis is a water-intensive crop,” Modern Farmer explained in their recent article “Growing Green: Cannabis Farmers Tackle Sustainability”(3). “Grown indoors or in the wild, each plant requires between five and six gallons of water per day—nearly twice that of other commodity crops.”

In response, some farmers build and manually monitor their own irrigation systems, […]

Full article: www.cannabissciencetech.com

[Ed.: references from the original source:]

1. Cannabis restoration grant program https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Watersheds/Cannabis-Restoration-Grant (accessed Jul 26, 2023).
2. Sustainable California Grown Cannabis Pilot Program https://www.grants.ca.gov/grants/sustainable-california-grown-cannabis-pilot-program/ (accessed Jul 26, 2023).
3. Mora, G. Growing green: Cannabis farmers tackle sustainability https://modernfarmer.com/2023/07/growing-green-cannabis-farmers-tackle-sustainability/ (accessed Jul 26, 2023).
4. McEvoy, E. Landowners in Oregon are now responsible for cleanup of illegal growing operations https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/landowners-in-oregon-are-now-responsible-for-cleanup-of-illegal-growing-operations (accessed Jul 26, 2023).
5. Craig, D. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/6-sustainable-packaging-tips-cannabis-growers/ (accessed Jul 27, 2023).
6. McEvoy, E. Adding hemp to create a new bio-based alternative to plastic https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/adding-hemp-to-create-a-new-bio-based-alternative-to-plastic (accessed Jul 26, 2023).
7. Colli, M. Congressional spending bill highlights need for research on hemp as plastic alternative and cannabis impaired driving test https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/congressional-spending-bill-highlights-need-for-research-on-hemp-as-plastic-alternative-and-cannabis-impaired-driving-test (accessed Jul 26, 2023).