Cannabis in the Circular Economy

The Coming Age of Abundance

Peter Diamandis has a radical idea. The coming age will be one of Abundance. Not for the few, but for the many, the bottom 3 billion on our planet. He focuses on the disruptive and radical changes rolling across our planet. Information and all that it entails, allows everyone with a smartphone connected to the internet to gain access to knowledge. Knowledge is power. The ancient practices of limitations and scarcity thinking are giving way to a new paradigm that is transforming every segment of human civilization.

Some are quite concerned. What does it mean when wages, manufacturing and jobs become “de-valued”? How is anyone going to work for a living? This is the wrong question. The real question becomes? What should our planet look like when 3-D on-demand production & robotics, driven by information systems and AI, can produce everything we need. Will classical working jobs be needed? Perhaps the role of humananity will become providing creativity: Music, writing, design, code, art, dance, poetry, singing, gardening, sculpture, drawing and painting. Very much like what Gene Roddenberry envisioned in a Star Trek civilization. When you have everything you need, is there a need for money? Michio Kaku postulates that we are on the verge of becoming a “Type One” civilization where all of our energy needs come from harnessing the sun and wind and tides. Mining a nearby asteroid has the potential to provide countless trillions in metals with no earthside pollution. New techniques to use our “waste” can generate abundance, real wealth, in terms of designing a sustainable circular economy. This knowledge gives every man, woman and child the resources to contribute their creativity to our world. Judging from the creative innovations being designed by young people, the rEvolution is just beginning.

The Blue Economy

Recently a friend of mine from Hemp Circle Industries introduced me to the work of Gunter Pauli of www.theblueeconomy.org. This was a real eye opener. Boots-on-the-ground approach to building sustainable solutions from the “bottom up” for humanity. Absolutely brilliant thinking. Instead of entering into high competition mode with global commodity pricing, most of the innovative solutions involve transforming “waste” into revenue. Creating jobs, value and revenue in the local economy. Many of the projects (over 100 around the world and counting) have changed the lives of thousands of people. One of the more startling projects was making paper out of stone. Literally. Using mining dust “waste”, instead of trees, to create a product out of mine tailings that is 100% recyclable. No longer growing monoculture pulp & paper forests is a step in the right direction. Maintaining forest diversity and reducing the need for clear cutting tactics. Another project uses the “waste” from orange groves to produce household cleaners from the rinds and using the seeds in high protein bread. The oranges from the grove are turned into freshly squeezed juice for local hotels and resorts. Perfect circular economy. Rather than driving the local economy into poverty with the lowest possible prices, the blue economy is retaining the value and productivity in the local region. This can be applied to many areas from rural farms to big cities.

Cannabis in the Circular Economy

Cannabis has great potential in the ‘blue’ circular economy. This concept goes beyond “green” incentives that often contribute to higher costs for green solutions — compared to the hidden subsidies and environmental costs of petrochemical products. The growing of food, clothing and shelter can help people to create a sustainable, organic ‘net-zero carbon’ local economy. Consider an agricultural crop that can produce high quality protein and all the EFA’s we need in the perfect ratio. Cannabis can produce a ‘hempcrete’ house from a mere two acres. Each and every year. The core “hurd’ is about 70% cellulose which is used to build homes or create durable household products. Taken a step further, the SAME crop generates many tons of fibre for clothing. The leaf material can be used for medicine. animal fodder or be simply returned to the soil as compost. Quadruple use from the more outstanding genetic profiles available from the ancient herb.

Furthermore, another bottom line: restoration of farmland. Cannabis captures carbon directly from the atmosphere. The extensive root system sequesters up to 35% of the entire biomass in the soil, keeping it for decades. As CO2 is pulled from the air, all of the products created also sequesters the carbon for the life of the products. A house built this way is “carbon-negative” and keeps the carbon for hundreds of years. This is a solution based upon long term sustainability. Any farmer, worldwide, can be part of this circular economy. Growing wealth literally from the ground up and channeling products into the local economy… from the poorest nations to industrialized countries.

We are working towards establishing a vibrant, innovative, resilient circular economy in the world. What is a circular economy and why do we want it? Come and learn from us and with us: what it is and how we can make it mainstream.

Engineers, entrepreneurs, designers, manufacturers, supply chain managers, sustainability professionals, urban planners, architects, builders, city managers, farmers, and others interested in learning about building the circular economy are encouraged to join in on July 28th and create a better world…. for everyone.

~Bruce Ryan — CannaSystems & Brandon Pitcher — Hemp Circle Industries