Seaworthy Sunday: Cannabis Ocean Trash Packaging

I wish I could tell you how much marijuana and vaping packaging I pick up off the beach. Everyday it is either a small plastic bag, a plastic bottle, a plastic vaping gizmo, e-cigerette. Only 10 states have legalized marijuana, so that means, when people come here to California or Colorado, it becomes a free for all and that free-for-all-is more trash on our beaches. 

• 20% of cities in California — 89 of 482 — allow retail shops to sell cannabis for recreational use,
• 82 of Los Angeles County’s 88 cities prohibit retail sales of recreational marijuana
• $3.6 million in revenue from the Cannabis Business Tax (CBT) through the first three quarters of 2018, in San Diego (NBC7 News)
• $48 million in revenue in 2018 in Denver, Colorado

Legally speaking, because it is smoking is is banned, one cannot smoke or vape on the beach and public areas. This is another instance in which our lifeguards and police do nothing.

So if we are going to have more trash.. why not have trash made from sustainable materials and even better made from ocean plastics? The benefit of reusing ocean trash is: 1.) Provide innovative companies a market for their ocean waste products 2.) Continuance of Ocean clean-up 3.) A company that that gives back by sustainable packaging or used packaging. a win-win.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2019 –Made in USA  Sana Packaging, a startup that designs and develops differentiated, sustainable and compliant packaging solutions for the cannabis industry, announces a partnership with Oceanworks and a new line of reclaimed ocean plastic cannabis packaging. The new product line is set to launch in spring 2019.

Oceanworks partners with collection and processing agents around the world to bring trusted sources of ocean plastic materials to consumers eager to use their purchasing power to make a difference.

“We’re extremely excited about working with Oceanworks,” said Ron Basak-Smith, co-founder and CEO of Sana Packaging. “This is an incredible opportunity to help clean our oceans and protect some of our planet’s most fragile ecosystems. While hemp bioplastics will remain our core focus, ocean plastic is a problem we have to address.”

Sana Packaging’s flagship product line is made from 100 percent plant-based and chemical-free hemp plastic. Now, Sana Packaging is proud to partner with Oceanworks to launch a new line of cannabis packaging made from reclaimed ocean plastic. Cannabis packaging waste is already making headlines and six of the 10 states with recreational cannabis are coastal states – seven counting Michigan, which borders four of the Great Lakes.

About Sana Packaging
Sana Packaging Inc. designs and develops differentiated, sustainable and compliant packaging solutions for the cannabis industry using 100 percent plant-based hemp plastic and other sustainable materials. Sana Packaging is proud to be a “Made in the USA” company. For more information, visit www.sanapackaging.com.

About Oceanworks
Oceanworks Inc., founded in 2016, aims to accelerate the removal of ocean plastic with the long-term goal of a plastic-free ocean. The Oceanworks Marketplace was created to connect the business community with verified sources of ocean plastic material collected around the world. The Marketplace includes collectors, processors, manufacturers, brands and other stakeholders who all pledge to adhere to sourcing standards and to use the OceansMade mark to showcase product origin and authenticity. Marketplace members are working together to remove two million tons of ocean plastic and transform this material into sustainable products. For more information, visit www.oceanworks.co.