How the Cannabis Industry Is Cleaning Up Ocean Plastic

Smoke More Weed: It’s Cleaning Up All the Ocean Plastic

Smoke more weed to save the planet? If you’re buying products from Sana Packaging, a company that uses plastic collected from the ocean to make cannabis items, it could be kind of possible.

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental crises of our time. On its website, Sana Packaging highlights that more than 8 million tons of plastic enters the oceans every year, killing marine life and impacting nearly 700 species of marine animals. Some plastics can take more than 450 years to break down.

The growing cannabis industry is a contributor; two-thirds of recreational cannabis states are on the coast or bordering the Great Lakes.

Sana Packaging recognizes society’s “take-make-dispose” model, which according to the company, has “led to scarcity, volatility, and unaffordable pricing.”

“The way we think about sustainability, disposable products, and waste recovery needs to evolve. It’s time to change the narrative,” the sustainably minded company wrote.

Sana Packaging has an entire range made from ocean plastic | image/Sana Packaging

 

Sana Packaging has a vision for a “circular economy” – restorative, regenerative, and building economic, natural, and social capital. It believes ocean plastic has potential and can be used to replace almost any plastic product being made today.

“This is an incredible opportunity to help clean our oceans and protect some of our planet’s most fragile ecosystems,” the company wrote online.

In collaboration with Oceanworks, Sana Packaging has removed four tons – 8,000 pounds – of plastic waste from the ocean and used it to create pre-roll tubes, one of the most ubiquitous cannabis waste products around.

On top of its ocean plastic products, Sana Packaging uses hemp to make plant-based, chemical-free plastic. Hemp is an “ideal rotational crop,” according to the brand. It requires less water and pesticides than other industrial crops, grows quickly, and remediates soil.

Its hemp and ocean plastic products are available as 110m Sana Tubes that can fit up to a king size pre-roll, vaporizer cartridges, or a 10cm vaporizer pen.

It also makes Sana Containers out of hemp. They’re child-resistant and suitable for concentrates, vaporizer cartridges, and edible capsules, mints, and gummies. They can store up to 3.5 grams of flower and the lid doubles as a rolling tray.

Sana Packaging is also working on a Sana Container and 70mm Sana Tube made from 100 percent reclaimed ocean plastic. The 70mm tube is ideal for single vaporizer cartridges and mini pre-rolls.