Eliminating Plastic Packaging In Marijuana Sales

This project is in the research stage.

What if... we only used re-useable, non-plastic materials to sell and distribute cannabis across the City of Boulder? What if Boulder created and supported an infrastructure that set the precedent for sustainable/green cannabis sales across the state/and United States?

The goal:

  • Find leverage points to encourage the transition away from the selling plastic in the cannabis system.
  • Motivate City Council and the MALB to support and draft legislation implementing a system of reusable materials for the sales of cannabis city wide.
  • Change our perception of Legal Cannabis away from single-use packaging, towards a methodology that requires more awareness, thought and action to eliminate waste.

The research:

We need to research:

  • CRMC (Colorado Retail Marijuana Code) Rules that strictly outline 'plastic' material as the modus operandi for the economy of this plant.
  • Companies across the front range producing and advocating for alternative methods to store and sell cannabis. Compare cost of hemp v.s. glass v.s. alternative materials.
  • Cities across the states with adjunct organizations tasked with observing and mitigating the waste within their cannabis sales systems.

The experiment:

  • Our first experiment would be addressing dispensaries city wide:
  1. Deliver informational pamphlet to managers/owners addressing and outlining the plastic waste in the cannabis system.
  2. Return to dispensaries and ask for leverage points through supporting Groundwork in moving forward to addressing City Council.
  • Our second experiment would be setting up 'Groundwork' recycling containers near major pedestrian thoroughfares, as well as outside dispensaries, to gather materials to support the quantitative visual argument of this goal. Eventually deliver these materials to local companies targeting cannabis waste, for recycling/upcycling reuse.