Pot Plastic Packaging Pollution
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I'm noticing more plastic containers in the medical dispensaries near me. I shop at 3-4 places (not everyone can grow and / or deal in bulk ).
Yes, there's some weed sold in jars and foil envelopes (that are technically recyclable, but not officially as they are former drug containers), but the increasing amount of hard plastic vials are non-recyclable.
Baggies > Zip Locks > Vacuum seals > Plastic vials > Plastic tubes for individual joints... It's getting worse.
You'd think the industry would figure out a better way. Not increase the pollution.
(Don't get me started on disposable pens with parts and batteries that can't be recycled.)
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
I've never heard of a
I've never heard of a dispensary or store where you can bring in and fill your own bag-- like at the local organic market.
Or refill a used container like a growler at a brewery.
Anyone ever try that?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
Pharmacies lead the way.
Pharmacies lead the way.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
They have recycling/return
They have recycling/return bins at the dispensaries around here for all of that.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Around here PCP used to be
Around here PCP used to be sold in thin metal film cans with screw tops (I'm talking early 70s) -- I wonder what ever happened to those? They would fit an 8th.
Then the black plastic and gray plastic film cans with the snap lids replaced them. They were handy.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
Kodak and Fuji were trying to
Kodak and Fuji were trying to kill us.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
Grow your own, and keep it in
Grow your own, and keep it in mason jars.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Thanks Mike - but I'm no
Thanks Mike - but I'm no longer in CA and not in the position to do that -- like most people.
I "vote" with my dollars -- it's the best I can do as a consumer.
(The Garcia brand is sold in heavy glass jars with lots of cardboard packaging. Seems like overkill but what do I know?)
When med mar started around here I researched the disposable pens and found out that it ws deemed impractical / impossible to recover the components within. And it was illegal to recycle hazardous waste (i.e., controlled substances or containers that held them). Thus, they were worthless on the market. No point in setting up collection bins as they had to go to the landfill. They told me to make art out of them.
The question is what can that industry do? Knowing the corporate mentality is maximize profit (plastic is cheaper than tin).
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Slacker -- I was sitting
Slacker -- I was sitting around a buddy's pool today (sorry I didn't think about you, dude) and he busted out a preroll in a plastic tube and it just felt "stupid" to pop it open and immediately toss it in the trash.
Seemed so wasteful. Sure I partook but I don't buy them.
think about the children
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
I've never bought a single
I've never bought a single from a dispensary.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
mid 70 > 80s these got a lot
mid 70 > 80s these got a lot of re-uses.
I probably still have some in the weird nuts-and-bolts drawer.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
^ Reminds of a time a friend
^ Reminds of a time a friend left my place in SF with one of these black plastic films can in his pants pocket headed to San Jose. It was filled with rinse juice from another container so it wasn't full strength acid but still probably pretty potent. He was a normal guy -- he wasn't a super tripper or anything -- it was just an addition to his stash.
On the train home he felt his leg getting wet cause those gray tops could pop off. He didn't want to take off his pants on the train so he fumbled around panicking which made the situation worse. Got his hand all wet, too.
It was before cell phones. He called me a couple days later...said he still hadn't slept.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MeditateontheQ
<<Baggies > Zip Locks >
<<Baggies > Zip Locks > Vacuum seals > Plastic vials > Plastic tubes for individual joints...>> Most of this stuff is not even accepted in the global recycling stream, it's either too small and jams up the machinery at the transfer stations or an undesirable type of plastic on the global markets. Yes, more little plastic things going to the landfill.
Was surprised to see that California dispensaries are required to operate in a such a wasteful manner (everything is pre-packaged)
Oregon allows big apothecary jars for the display shelves, and it is weighed out in front of you. A dispensary near my home in Portland packages in mini jam jars.... customers can return them for refills and new labels, or just turn them in for a fresh jar, their choice.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: dimethyllovebeam
>>>Oregon allows big
>>>Oregon allows big apothecary jars for the display shelves, and it is weighed out in front of you.
Oklahoma does the same thing, called "deli style". There was a recent amendment about changing to pre-pack, but there was enough backlash (partly due to plastic waste stream) to halt it for now, but it will eventually happen as the state claims deli style is aiding the black market. Metrc seed-to-sale tracking system just went into effect end of this May. No tracking system for 2.5yrs and deli style is what was/ is aiding the black market?!!!
Alan, there's a subgroup of people who have been very conscientious about minimal marijuana packaging since the mid-seventies
buy in bulk and save. ;-)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skyjunk
The plastic film canister
The plastic film canister were good for carrying around micro-dot, until you get pushed in the pool. Then you have to scramble
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Rasputin O'Leary
^ LMAO
^ LMAO
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
Legal weed packaging has
Legal weed packaging has gotten completely ridiculous in California. Before full legalization, many dispensaries had big apothecary jars that the budtender would open and let you see and smell what you were getting, and many dispensaries had illuminated magnifying devices so that you could check out the trichomes. The problem with that old system is the industry adopted plastic, pharmacy-style containers as the package of choice for your purchase, which were then placed in a paper bag sealed shut with a staple. That staple always cracked me up. Like it had some kind of mystical power to keep the consumer from getting at their weed until they got home.
With full legalization in CA, weed packaging now needs to be child-resistant, tamper-evident, resealable, and opaque. What this means is a lot more packaging, usually a glass jar in a cardboard box (although sometimes you'll get a mylar-plastic laminate zip-lock bag, which is an improvement/reduction, but still can't be recycled), which is then placed in a paper bag and sealed shut with a staple. That mystical staple. To be compliant in CA means that consumers don't get to see or smell what they've purchased until they get home, or for those who just can't wait, until they've ripped open the stapled bag in the parking lot of the dispensary, unboxed their purchase, and successfully figured out how to get past the child resistant feature of the jar.
Grow your own, and keep it in mason jars. Honestly, that's the best way to go no matter what state you live in, if you care about stuff like the environmental impact of weed packaging.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: krab
Mid 70 > 80s these got a lot of re-uses.>>>
And 2022, have some Oregon grown Blue Diesel in two as we speak
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: doctor
Totally agree with the OP.
Totally agree with the OP. Buy a few grams and the packaging weighs more than the product. And is the packaging even recyclable?
Thank God the local large Supermarket chain here finally stopped plastic and paper and you have to have your own bags to shop. I think decades too late.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
But if we didn't have all of
But if we didn't have all of this packaging
what would protect the prohibition era prices?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
Bingo, Bss. You're not just
Bingo, Bss. You're not just buying weed anymore. You're paying top dollar for an image and an experience.
> The Garcia brand is sold in heavy glass jars with lots of cardboard packaging. Seems like overkill but what do I know?
The Garcia brand is one of the worst cases of superfluous packaging I've seen out there. You'd think Trixie, et al, would know better.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thumbkinetic
A plumber I know used to
A plumber I know used to fashion stashes out of short length of copper tubing; sealed cap on one end and a removable cap on the other.
Compact but heavy enough to throw out of your immediate vicinity if the cops raided The Glen.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
> if we didn't have all of this packaging
what would protect the prohibition era prices<
State and local governments.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
by and large, the alcoholic
By and large, the alcoholic beverage industry ha adopted packaging that can be recycled -- why not follow that model?
Instead of the pharmaceutical model? Who are they protecting from what?
Booze isn't too childproof. And I guess I can see edibles being packaged a little differently if they look like candy.... but weed?
HEY KIDS...DON'T EAT THE WEED should be sufficient.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
> HEY KIDS...DON'T EAT THE
> HEY KIDS...DON'T EAT THE WEED should be sufficient.
Some would see that as an enticement. "What are you rebelling against?" "Whaddya got?"
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Fun fact of the day: By and
Fun fact of the day: By and large? --- I had to look it up:
This expression originated in 17th-century seamanship, where it referred to sailing into the wind and then off it, which made it easier to steer. By the early 1700s the term had been broadened to mean “in one direction and another,” whence its present meaning of “in general.” For a synonym, see for the most part.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
We have magic staples here,
We have magic staples here, too. If you can somehow get past that, I guess you are entitled to try and breach the dreaded chlid-proof cap (which is in itself protected by the indestructible sticker).
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
In NY when you are at a
In NY when you are at a restaurant and have leftover wine in your bottle to take home (that hardly ever happens) they put it in a paper bag with receipt and sealed with the magic staple. The theory is that when you get pulled over and the staple/bag is intact you can't get busted for "open container". Maybe that's where paper bag with staple idea came from for weed.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: An organ grinder’s tune
why aren't they made from
why aren't they made from hemp?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thumbkinetic
Points for the alliterative
Points for the alliterative thread title.
What is the green grass garbage go-to?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: That’s Nancy with the laughin’ face
> Maybe that's where paper
> Maybe that's where paper bag with staple idea came from for weed.
So nobody though of keeping a stapler and paper bags in the car?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
> why aren't they made from
> why aren't they made from hemp?
I think you know the answer to that one, Turtle. It'd make too much damn sense.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: An organ grinder’s tune
so, if we can't sure the gun
so, if we can't sure the gun makers...can't we sue the plastics industry?
they are literally killing all of us.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thumbkinetic
Points for the alliterative
Weird, delayed double-post