A Stoner’s Guide to Upcycling Cannabis Packaging
The common perception that the world of cannabis is a completely green industry is undeniably false. Sure, sustainable and environmentally conscious practices are prevalent in this industry. But there’s always going to be parts of it that produce waste – most notably, packaging.
Your weed has to be stored in something! So, how do we combat the inevitable percentage of waste we produce as a company?
Upcycling presents an array of opportunities to reuse and repurpose packaging for various things in and around the house. Let’s explore a few ways to upcycle your Pass packaging.
How To Upcycle Mylar Bags
Mylar is a popular choice for many cannabis brands looking to package their flower, and The Pass is no different. It’s an affordable option that protects your flower from degrading due to light, heat, and other elements.
But what do you do with it once you’ve smoked all that good good? Mylar is able to withstand the elements so well that it makes a versatile storage option for nearly anything.
Are you at the intersection of needing every doohickey and gonad you can get your hands on to make the perfect cup of joe, while also wanting to reuse packaging for preserving said meticulously crafted brew?
Mylar bags are perfect for keeping your ground coffee as fresh as can be. In fact, most pre-ground coffee comes in mylar-lined packaging. The same logic applies to any spices or dried herbs you’re grinding up for your opulent meals you’re making to impress your new sweetheart. Trust me, they can tell if you’re not storing your spices properly.
Mylar bags also make great storage options for electronics, keeping them dry and protected from the elements. Our full-ounce bags can even serve as a carrying case for hard drives, cords, chargers, or whatever you’re looking to keep safe.
How to Upcycle Pre-roll Tubes
Because of their smaller size, pre-roll tubes work less as reusable storage options. But they can be perfect for specialized, easy-to-pack and store-away options for certain occasions. We know how you do… Tokin’ Tuesday comes around, and all of a sudden, you have 10 empty pre-roll tubes by Wednesday. Well, don’t just throw them out – put them to good use.
With an abundance of hiking trails near our dispensary, pre-roll tubes make a great, lightweight option for storing fire-starting kits. Whether it’s to start up a fire to roast hot dogs, or as part of an emergency kit, pre-roll tubes will keep your fire starter dry and contained.
To make a simple and effective fire starter:
- Cut a piece of wax paper and fill it with wood shavings or pack it full of wood dust.
- Then roll that retrofitted fire-catching joint up, twisting both ends to light when you need to.
- Make sure you can fit it into your pre-roll tube to keep it dry and cohesive, and you have yourself a ready-to-go fire at the pop of a tube.
And in the spirit of spring, you can repurpose pre-roll tubes to propagate plants. I don’t know who needs to tell you this, but you don’t have enough plants around your house, and it’s hurting your feng shui.
No worries, you have enough empty pre-roll tubes to start an arboretum:
- Take a cutting of your favorite plant and put it in your pre-roll tube with enough water to cover the node of the stem. Voila, you’re fostering the growth of your next plant.
- Once the roots start to grow on your plant, gently remove it and plant it in its new home.
- If you really want to maximize your propagation skills, drill a hole in the lid of your pre-roll tube just big enough to fit your stem. This will lead to less evaporation and better humidity, allowing your cutting to grow roots more efficiently.
- Carefully snip up your lid with some scissors when it’s time and it’s ready for a new home.
How to Upcycle Jars and Tins
Are you the type of person to leave your jewelry hanging around willy nilly, and then you befriend a crow that’s been living near your house and name him Adam Duritz and you and Adam Duritz start spending most afternoons together, you reading out on the porch, Adam Duritz keeping a keen eye on everything going on around him, and then one night you notice that Adam Duritz hops a little closer when you go inside so you keep the door open for him and what do you know, he hops right in, so then he starts living with you, and you two create a formidable bond where you tell him all your life’s secrets and worries and he provides the listening ear you’ve been longing for, but then one day you wake up and all your jewelry that you left around willy nilly is missing and you call out for Adam Duritz, but you just find an open front door and deep feeling of regret in your chest and then you think maybe Adam Duritz didn’t ever love you, maybe he was just a crow and crows like shiny things and he saw all the jewelry in your house, but then again why did he stay so long if he only wanted the jewelry, so now you’re stuck thinking about Adam Duritz every night and all day and you can’t tell anybody because they just won’t get it?
Well, you wouldn’t be in that situation if you just started storing all your loose trinkets and jewelry in leftover jars or tins. Start putting good use to that packaging!
The most common sense upcycling you can do with your cannabis packaging is to use it for what it was meant for in the first place. Our TrailBlazers tins, for example, have five little nodules to hold doobies. Well, if you’re into rolling your own as well, you have the perfect space to hold those doobies.
Growing your own flower? Hang on to all that packaging, and you can securely store your weed FOR YOURSELF ONLY.
Sustainability Is a Shared Responsibility
Sustainability shouldn’t be shoved entirely onto the consumer, and sustainable practices at the industrial level have a larger impact in the long run, but it is still good to think about how you can do your part to upcycle waste in your life, all while also keeping industries and corporations accountable for their waste.
Plus, it’s cheaper than buying more things to perform the same task that reused packaging can already do. Reduce, reuse, and UPCYCLE.