Marijuana Business Magazine July 2018

SUSTAINABLE CULTIVATION is the New GREEN BLACK By Omar Sacirbey Cutting energy and water use while adhering to sustainable growing practices can keep you competitive and help your bottom line O utCo, a cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and retail business headquartered in San Diego County, California, marked a mile- stone May 7: The company harvested its final crop grown under high-pressure sodium lights. It took a couple of years to transition from the powerful but power-sucking HPS lights used by most commercial growers today to more expensive but more efficient LED lights. The switch was part of OutCo’s effort to be greener and more cost efficient. “True sustainability efforts will be at the core of all businesses going forward, including cannabis,” said Allison Justice, OutCo’s director of cultivation. “These practices are not always easy but are critical to ensure the future availability of natural resources, lower our bottom line and remain competitive.” In an age of plunging wholesale cannabis prices, sustainability is as much – or more – about cutting costs to survive as it is about recycling and reducing carbon footprints to be green. “Everybody is dealing with such thin margins, so everyone is looking to be sustainable in terms of, ‘Will I be in business in five years?’” said Casey Rivero, cultivation manager at Yerba Buena in Hillsboro, Oregon. July 2018 • Marijuana Business Magazine • 65