Every Time You Grow a Tree, So Do We.
Grass + Grain Co. has committed to planting one tree every single time you grow and harvest a cannabis plant. All you need to do is post a picture of yourself harvesting your plant, tag us so we know, and we will donate and plant a tree on your behalf.
Tag us on Instagram with a photo of your harvest:
We have partnered with One Tree Planted to work together in reforestation initiatives around the world. One Tree Planted is a non-profit environmental charity on the mission of global reforestation. We will be planting trees in North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
When we set out on our mission to create Grass & Grain Co. we knew we had an opportunity to cut down on emissions created by the cannabis industry - it is no secret that commercial cultivation has significant environmental implications.
When it comes to the environment, commercial cannabis cultivation isn’t very green.
While we don’t have statistics for Canada, in 2017, legal cannabis cultivation in the USA consumed:
- 1 MWh of electricity = enough to power 92,500 homes for a year
- 472,000 Tons of CO2 emissions = equivalent of 92,660 cars per year
This is the cost of commercial-scale production. Massive facilities (some in excess of 1,000,000+ square feet) need huge amounts of electricity to run their lighting systems, HVAC, and general facility. They use mass amounts of water, with some facilities reporting upwards of 23 litres per plant, per day. The fact is, these commercial cultivation sites are not efficient, BUT so profitable that they do not consider the environmental implications. They are often run inefficiently and issues with mould, insects, and pests have led many to spray harmful chemicals on their plants throughout the growing cycle.
Yes, our cabinets still use electricity for lighting and ventilation, and yes, we must water our plants. However, we use extremely energy efficient LED lights, drawing approximately 1/3 the amount of electricity as traditional HPS/MH lights. For instance, our 300W LED light on our single door cabinets draws only 132 watts to create the light equivalent of a 300W HPS light. Another benefit of LED lights is that they create very little heat when compared to traditional lights. Meaning, we can then use low draw ventilation systems and still maintain the perfect temperature, climate, and airflow for our plants.
On average, our cabinets consume 60 kWh/month, which equates roughly to running an average refrigerator.
Using our high-retention and aerated growing medium, our standard growing program uses approximately 50-70 litres of water per plant lifecycle. Roughly the amount used for an average 8 to 10 -minute shower.
Similar to home-brewing or baking your own bread, the fact is: micro-production, or in our case cultivation, has significantly lower environmental implications than commercial production. Period.
…and that’s just cultivation. Did we mention everything else that comes with the commercial industry?
Transportation / Packaging / Advertising / Compliance / Retail
The sheer thought of everything that goes into that small $40 1/8 oz heavily packaged dry flower is quite staggering…
OK, great – but grow trees, really!? Don’t you use real wood on all of your cabinets?
Correct – we use real wood veneers, but this is not your typical veneer. We searched high and low for an environmentally friendly supplier for all of our veneers. We are extremely proud to say that our veneers will always come from 100% plantation and sustainable wood sources. Our veneers will NEVER contain tropical hardwoods or species from endangered forests. Our supplier is certified by ICC-700 National Green Building Standard.
Our environmental mission at Grass & Grain Co. is to reduce the impacts of large-scale commercial cannabis cultivation by creating a community of conscious consumers contributing to the global reforestation movement (say that 10 times fast!).
We know we can make a difference. Help us, help all of us.
Consume consciously.