A senior at Colby College, Georgia Dettmann has been engaged on her senior thesis, sustainability certifications for the hashish business. She reached out to ReVision Energy within the fall to ask us about our B Corp standing – how we obtained it, what it means for our communities, and why we worth it. Now, she’s nearly wrapped up her challenge so we obtained again in contact to see what she’s developed as a “B Corp” equal.
A B Corp Certification for the Cannabis Industry?
by Georgia Dettmann, Colby College Class of 2022
My title is Georgia Dettmann, and I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. I’m at the moment a senior at Colby College finding out environmental coverage and economics. Outside of the classroom, I like to journey, discover the outside, and play volleyball. During my senior 12 months at Colby, I’ve been engaged on a thesis the place I’m researching sustainability inside the leisure hashish business in Maine. Ultimately, I’m hoping to develop a sustainability certification, much like the B Corp Certification, that totally different retailers might hypothetically take to point out their sustainable practices.
Developing the Thesis
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Through my coursework at Colby, we got the chance to discover statewide insurance policies and the way they performed a job in environmental coverage nationwide. I got here throughout an article that seemed into new hashish progress insurance policies in Illinois and instantly was hooked – there’s a lot in regards to the business that’s unknown due to how politicized it has change into and the way federal legalization dominates the dialog about hashish.
I started to discover the environmental impacts of hashish progress and discovered loads in regards to the plant itself. A couple of years later, I used to be nonetheless excited about the business, so I made a decision to dig a bit of deeper and increase my analysis into all types of sustainability: environmental, financial, social, and many others. Maine’s hashish legal guidelines and practices are a fantastic place to study extra in regards to the plant, its regulation, and its sustainability, which is why I centered my research across the business in Maine!
Right now, my title is a placeholder: “The Sustainability of Recreational Cannabis Production in Maine.” Throughout my analysis, I’ve found that most of the educational journal articles in regards to the business have some nice puns included within the title – I’m working in direction of discovering one which hasn’t been accomplished but – that is likely to be the toughest a part of this entire challenge!
B Corp Certification because the Gold Standard
Photo Credit: ReVision Energy
Because I’m in the end growing a certification for hashish retailers, I needed to look into pre-existing sustainability certifications. I used to be accustomed to the B Corp Certification as a result of it has been talked about in just a few of my lessons and I usually see the B Corp brand on a whole lot of merchandise within the grocery retailer. I seemed into precisely what kinds of questions had been requested on these certifications and talked to some native companies, like ReVision, that had been B Corp licensed. I like how the certification varies amongst industries, so an organization within the agriculture business isn’t requested the identical questions as an organization within the manufacturing business, per se. There’s multiple approach to obtain sustainability, and differentiating the certification between industries exhibits that.
I additionally respect how the certification isn’t nearly environmental advantages; it asks a number of questions on moral remedy of staff, civic engagement from the corporate, and general financial impression from the corporate itself. This was a big supply of inspiration for my certification, because the time period “sustainability” isn’t just in regards to the atmosphere – it’s in regards to the long-term wellbeing of staff, the cycle of cash again into the area people, the moral remedy of shoppers, and plenty of extra issues. I needed to be sure that this was highlighted in my certification as nicely.
A Similar Certification for the Cannabis Industry
The cultivation of hashish is a posh, multi-layered business. I’ve discovered that there are extra sustainable methods to domesticate, bundle, and promote hashish recreationally, and it will be nice if everybody engaged in these practices. The leisure business remains to be rising, so introducing the significance of sustainability at this stage could be actually useful, nevertheless it can be difficult as a result of there’s nonetheless loads to study accessibility.
Photo Credit: Richard T | The CBD
I in the end envision a certification specializing in the packaging that totally different hashish merchandise are available in, in addition to the remedy and advantages that staff obtain. Social justice is one other matter that’s closely intertwined with the business, so it’s necessary to focus on that as nicely.
Something that I need to emphasize in each my thesis and my certification is that not everybody can snap their fingers and be extra sustainable – sustainability could be costly! I might hope that if this certification might be applied into the business, totally different retailers might obtain tax breaks or some kind of presidency funding to reward them for his or her practices.
