This year’s Cannabis Sustainability Symposium drew a large crowd in Denver.
This week like-minded individuals gathered at the 2017 Cannabis Sustainability Symposium to discuss how this industry can ‘Grow Taller’ together. The goal of the Symposium was to explore how the cannabis community can reduce environmental harm as caused by the industry’s notoriously gluttonous energy habits.
“As we move forward in the cannabis industry we’re starting to see differentiation,” said Amy Andrle, co-owner, L’Eagle Services. “People are looking for how their businesses are doing business and evaluating them both on their products and their impact on the community.”
One of the reasons that unsustainable practices have become commonplace is because of the lack of federal oversight. In response, business leaders are banding together at events like this ensuring that regulations that protect both the industry and the public are securely in place.
“It doesn’t matter what type of product or service you’re providing,” said David Bronner, keynote speaker at the symposium and CEO of the top-selling soap brand Dr. Bronner’s. “That product and service can and should be delivered in a way that is ethical and fair and respects the earth and workers who are involved. And with cannabis – one of the safest plant-based medicines – it’s important to cultivate industry regulations that value and embody this sense of sustainable and ethical consciousness.”
During the two-day event, the Denver Environmental Health’s Cannabis Sustainability Work Group released a guide for the best practices. The Cannabis Environmental Best Practices Guide is completely free and goes over the best environmental practices for energy, water, and waste management for indoor cultivation facilities. Though it can help any indoor cannabis cultivation, it is meant to help growers in the surrounding Denver-metropolitan area. Speakers at the symposium also addressed topics like high-efficiency lighting, social responsibility, greenhouse design and more.
“As we oversee the process of the legalization of marijuana, our mission has been to maintain Denver’s quality of life, and a huge part of that links to environmental policy,” said Ashley Kilroy, executive director of Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses. “Sustainability and environmental quality issues have always been at the forefront of Mayor Hancock’s administration, and it’s exciting to see the cannabis industry’s progress in terms of environmental ethics since 2013; we have the Best Management Practices guide and are at the second Cannabis Sustainability Symposium – the industry is in a new period of growth.”
