Part of our passion at Giving Tree Farms lies with finding creative ways to boost our sustainability and efficiency. And much like Lean Manufacturing, we work to achieve “Lean Cultivation,” an application that reduces our waste through our cultivation procedures without sacrificing efficiency and productivity. Every area of our operation ties in methods that reduce, reuse, or recycle our waste, from the garden to the processing room and all the way into the administration office. Lean Cultivation is a fully immersive approach to operating our business, one that is great for the environment and our achievement of such high-quality cannabis.
Amending and reusing our soil is a step we take to reduce our impact on the environment. Carbon emissions are saved from the lack of transportation that would be needed if a whole truckload of soil was delivered each season. We also use this opportunity to build up the soil’s richness with compost we’ve collected from our home and farm, and we always sample and analyze our soil before the season to ensure it will be perfect for our plants. If the results come back in need of some T.L.C., we add whatever amendments are necessary to get it into the proper state. If we find we don’t have enough for the cultivation season and have to purchase potting soil, we use the soil bags as growing containers. Then, when the plant is harvested, we reuse the soil bags as trash bags and retreat the soil purchased for use in the next cycle.
After our harvest, when our buds are drying and curing, Lean Cultivation finds its way into our processing room. We use recyclable/reusable cardboard boxes rather than black and yellow plastic bins for the after-harvest processing to reduce our plastic consumption. The boxes can be repurposed as storage containers for various needs around the farm as well. When the cardboard boxes reach the end of their lives, we compost them rather than toss them in the trash or use them as weed barriers when building new garden beds. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, cardboard waste makes up almost a third of all trash in landfills even though it can be composted. This is a staggering number that many farms, businesses, and households alike can begin counteracting immediately. However, when we do have to use plastics, we repurpose them for various uses around the property, such as seed-starters, watering jugs for our veggie garden, or storage containers for supplies.
We are always looking for creative ways to balance our plastic usage and effectively manage our waste. In a world full of convenience, we must be aware of an easy grab at the expense of additional and unsustainable packaging. We know avoiding plastics altogether is nearly impossible in our line of business. Still, we aim to always be reducing year after year, and, hopefully, inspire others to do the same.
If you practice Lean Cultivation on your farm, share some tips from your experience. Your comments could help us improve our efforts! Collaboration is the best way to move the cannabis industry forward toward a more sustainable future. We are licensed to deliver our sustainably-grown buds, so if you are a licensed buyer in the state of California, please fill out a Wholesale Account Form and we will send you inventory details.