At Province Apothecary, we are committed to providing organic and ethically sourced products, and continually finding ways to reduce our environmental footprint. For the last few years, we have offered a recycling incentive program to local customers: if you bring in 5 used PA bottles, you receive a free lip balm. We recycle all returned product bottles with the City of Toronto. In an effort to further reduce the environmental impact of cosmetic waste, we have partnered with a program called Terracycle for repurposing + recycling packaging that isn't currently accepted in the municipal program and might otherwise end up in landfills or waterways. What is Terracycle and what do they do? TerraCycle is a highly-awarded and globally recognized recycling company that develops zero waste solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste streams. The waste is collected through their Zero Waste System and is then sorted and repurposed into affordable, innovative products instead of being sent to a landfill. How is this different than our last recycling program? We have always recycled our bottles with the City of Toronto but until this point, we have not been able to recycle droppers, sprayers, or pumps. With Terracycle, we are able to continue to recycle glass and plastic packaging as well as materials like our pumps and droppers, mist sprayers, tins, lip balm tubes, and other hard-to-recycle packaging. What are some ways that Terracycle diverts waste from landfills? METALS |  Metals are separated by specific type and smelted into ingots for re-use. PLASTICS | Plastics are separated by number and melted down. From there, most plastics are turned into small pellets that can be molded and extruded into unique shapes and products. GLASS | Glass is cleaned and sorted by color for processing. It is then crushed and melted to be used in new glass products or other applications. What will you accept in your new recycling program? We will continue to honour our “bring back 5 empty Province Apothecary containers to receive 1 free lip balm.” We will accept + recycle packaging from our entire product line, including:

• Wellness + Perfume Roll-on vials
• Lip balm containers
• Sample containers and vials

Please ensure minimal residual product on your returns. Please note that sample packaging will not count towards receiving a free lip balm. We're so excited to be broadening our in-store recycling program and we hope you'll continue to bring us your empty PA containers!

Collectors will earn points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to charities of their choice.   When it comes to shaving, the Gillette brand razors and accessories have long set the standard for product and packaging excellence, but not so much when it came to sustainability and waste diversion.   However, that shortcoming appears to be finally addressed in a big way by its progressive brand-owner Procter & Gamble Inc., which is hooking up with leading product upcycling services provider TerraCycle, Inc. to collect and recycle all of its disposable razors, replaceable-blade cartridge units, and razor plastic packaging right across the U.S.   Under the recently-launched Gillette Razor Recycling Program, individual participants and organizations can sign up on the program page (www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/gillette) to download pre-paid TerraCycle tracking labels for shipping their used razors and packaging directly to the recycler—ultimately to be made into broad range of useful new products like park benches, bike racks, petfood bowls, recycling bins, etc.   Under the program, businesses, gyms, colleges, cities and community organizations will be actively encouraged to become designated drop-off points for the returned waste, whereby they will by supplied with special razor recycling bins that they can simply seal and return via UPS to TerraCycle, which will promptly send a new bin back to them.   For every shipment weighing at least 15 pounds, collectors will earn points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to charities of their choice.   “Through this innovative, first-of-its kind program, disposable razors, replaceable-blade cartridge units and their associated packaging are now nationally recyclable through the Gillette Recycling Program,” says TerraCycle founder and chief executive officer Tom Szaky.   “We are proud to partner with this forward-thinking company to offer consumers a way to divert razor waste from landfills,” Szaky states.   “We are very excited about our partnership with TerraCycle to offer recycling for Gillette, Venus or any razor brand across the U.S,” adds Gillette’s chief executive officer Gary Coombe.   “This is an important first step towards sustainable solutions for shaving products and the start of an exciting journey with Gillette and TerraCycle,” Coombe states.   “We are thrilled to bring this option to our consumers in the U.S.,” Coombe proclaims, “and we are already working on plans to roll out this important initiative to more countries very soon.”      

Packaging Is Piling Up

 

  Remember the Reddit poster claiming to have received 16 separate shipping boxes from the Ontario Cannabis Store after he ordered 21 grams and a beaker bong? Stealth or environmentally-friendly packaging has certainly not been the friend of legalization in Canada. Compared to the plastic baggies that black market consumers are accustomed to, the byproducts of legalization can be shocking—especially in cases where the container only contains 1 gram. In true Canadian fashion, the industry has come together to make some improvements. Canopy Growth, the parent company of cannabis brand Tweed, partnered with TerraCycle to develop what they say is the first national recycling program for the Canadian cannabis industry. They place their boxes in cannabis retail stores across Canada, where consumers can toss in any empty cannabis packaging that they have. If you’re in Ontario, the only place you can currently find a box is in Tweed’s visitor centre in Smith Falls, but we expect to see the recycling program proliferate as cannabis stores become more common. Health Canada, for its part, is taking steps to tackle packaging sizes. Deep inside their plan to regulate edibles and extracts come Oct. 2019 is a proposal that would allow licensed producers to use expanded panels on labels, such as peel-back and accordion panels, to display certain mandatory information, and allow packages to shrink in size.

It’s not just you: time certainly does fly, and yes, a lot has happened in the six months since cannabis was legalized in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018.   From product shortages and store openings (and closings), to refined regulations and programs for recycling packaging, we’ve compiled six of the biggest stories in Canadian cannabis, so far.   Canada’s system to legalize recreational cannabis isn’t perfect, but as you’ll read, there sure has been much progress alongside the trials and tribulations.   Alberta Leads the Pack on Retail   Photo by Jesse Milns for Leafly   Alberta is leading the pack with 75 recreational stores licensed by the province at press time, more than any other province.   Unlike other provinces, Alberta does not restrict producer-affiliated stores and even allows each company to operate up to 15% of all brick and mortar cannabis stores.   That’s led to a wide assortment of producer-affiliated chain stores, such as Nova Cannabis, Fire & Flower, and Spiritleaf, alongside individual mom-and-pop stores with names like, Celestial Buds and The Green Exchange.   Still, it’s not all lollipops and roses in the province. The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission stopped taking new retail store applications in Nov. 2018 citing a federal supply shortage, with one news outlet reporting that the regulator told them it might take as long as 18 months before the suspension is lifted.   Shortages are also the reason Ontario that has limited the number of licenses initially allotted to recreational stores. Twenty-five lucky retailers chosen via lottery are permitted to open up shop to recreational consumers in the province as of Apr. 1, but only a handful have, so far.   RELATED STORY   5 Canadian Cannabis Storage Solutions and Stash Bags   The supply shortage looks like it isn’t ending any time, with some industry personnel believing it could last for five years. However, it may be over sooner. The Financial Post, in February 2019, quoted Brock University Michael Armstrong as saying that barring unforeseen circumstances, “supply concerns will be resolved much more quickly than that” based on an analysis of the government’s recent industry data.   Medical Cannabis Will Soon Look a lot Like Rec’ Cannabis Photo by Jesse Milns   Government regulations gave licensed sellers of medical cannabis six months to continue selling patients cannabis products in old-format packaging, which up until now had labels that directly state the patient’s information and prescribe daily cannabis limits.   That means that patients will soon see their patient information dropped from containers of medical cannabis that producers courier to their home. Instead, if applicable, patients can use the “registration document” provided by their licensed seller to show to law enforcement authorities that they are legally permitted to carry more than the 30 grams that rec’ consumers can possess.   Some producers are even taking the opportunity to streamline their medical and recreational brands, which will make their medical and recreational cannabis products indistinguishable to the public.   A Quebec-based producer, for one, is discontinuing about a dozen products from its Hydropothecary line of medical cannabis, and will instead sell to its registered patient-clients cannabis from its HEXO line, which until now has been the brand of just their recreational cannabis line.   For better or worse, medical cannabis products will look a lot more like its recreational counterparts.   RELATED STORY   What’s the Difference? Recreational vs. Medical Cannabis in Canada The Industry Sees its First Store Casualty   That supply shortage sure is pesky. And it’s the top reason that Puff Puff Pass Headshop, one of two licensed cannabis retail stores in the Newfoundland municipality of Clarenville, has closed its doors for good.   The proprietor of the store told the Toronto Star in late January that its clientele wanted to purchase cannabis with no less than 20% THC, but that most of the products they received reached a maximum of 11 to 15%.   A call to the number associated with the store online revealed that the store has indeed shuttered but is still selling cannabis accessories in a local poolhall.   That has led some to question whether the province’s agency tasked with wholesaling cannabis is playing favourites. There are no signs that Canopy Growth-affiliated Tweed or Loblaw’s-affiliated C-Store locations are at risk of shutting down any time soon, although some stores have, at times, run out of product to sell.   Quebec Raising Minimum Age to 21 Photo by iStock   You would think that provincial governments would get less restrictive over time on the pot file. That’s not the case in Quebec, where debate is resuming in the National Assembly this month over the province’s plan to increase the minimum purchase age from 18 to 21. It’s an effort to curb youth use of the drug introduced by the Coalition Avenir Québec. The centre-right party campaigned on tightening cannabis regulations and was elected to power in the province in October.   Because they were elected with a majority government, it’s all but certain to happen, though it does have to snake its way through the governmental body.     RELATED STORY   Brushing Off Objections, Quebec to Raise Minimum Age, Ban Public Consumption   Once enacted, Quebec would become the only province to have a minimum purchase age above 19. The proposed legislation also seeks to prohibit the consumption of cannabis in public spaces. Black Market Dealers Thriving With Brazen Promotions   Buoyed by the recent legalization of cannabis and untethered by the restrictive promotion prohibitions that are found the regulated market, illegal sellers are turning to increasingly brazen promotion tactics that have left legal producers unsure how to beat them.   They’re already skirting federal criminal offences for selling illegal product, so there’s little incentive to comply with the promotion rules also found in the Cannabis Act.   RELATED STORY   Why Canada’s Mail Order Marijuana Business Is Not Going Away   In a recent interview with Yahoo News, Greg Engel, CEO of licensed producer Organigram, told the outlet that the companies faces “huge challenges” and that, “we continue to hear stories about online or same-day delivery people in major cities in Canada going around and giving out free product with their website address and phone.”   The CEO added, “They are doing things that we would never do.”   Packaging Is Piling Up   Photo by Jesse Milns   Remember the Reddit poster claiming to have received 16 separate shipping boxes from the Ontario Cannabis Store after he ordered 21 grams and a beaker bong? Stealth or environmentally-friendly packaging has certainly not been the friend of legalization in Canada.   Compared to the plastic baggies that black market consumers are accustomed to, the byproducts of legalization can be shocking—especially in cases where the container only contains 1 gram.   In true Canadian fashion, the industry has come together to make some improvements. Canopy Growth, the parent company of cannabis brand Tweed, partnered with TerraCycle to develop what they say is the first national recycling program for the Canadian cannabis industry. They place their boxes in cannabis retail stores across Canada, where consumers can toss in any empty cannabis packaging that they have.   If you’re in Ontario, the only place you can currently find a box is in Tweed’s visitor centre in Smith Falls, but we expect to see the recycling program proliferate as cannabis stores become more common.   Health Canada, for its part, is taking steps to tackle packaging sizes. Deep inside their plan to regulate edibles and extracts come Oct. 2019 is a proposal that would allow licensed producers to use expanded panels on labels, such as peel-back and accordion panels, to display certain mandatory information, and allow packages to shrink in size.   By Harrison Jordan| April 17th, 2019|Business, Medical Marijuana, Politics  

These innovative brands are making it easy for you to become more environmentally responsible

We’re going to assume that you’re already aware of the impact of plastics on marine life: That every day, eight million pieces of plastic find their way into the oceans and ever year, 100,000 marine mammals and one million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution. Like us, you may even have seen the footage of the pregnant whale that was found with almost 50 pounds of plastic in its stomach. You’re probably doing your very best to reduce your environmental impact by consuming thoughtfully, and recycling what you can, but when it comes to beauty, that can be challenging. You need to wash yourself and brush your teeth, so there’s only so much you can reduce your consumption, and often, beauty packaging is tough to recycle. “The first issue is that it tends to be small. Small items of packaging, less than 2.5 inches in diameter will generally not be captured in recycling facilities,” explains Eva Cook, brand PR specialist at LUSH. “The other challenge is that cosmetics packaging can be made up of multiple kinds of materials that can’t be easily separated; for example, a metal component with glass and paper. Consider a lipstick or eyeshadow—the external plastic case may be recyclable but there may be another material that the product actually sits in and that can’t be separated in order for it to be recycled.” On top of that, beauty products are mostly packaged in virgin plastic, made straight from petrochemicals, so recycling them is not really getting to the root of the sustainability problem. “Being recyclable is a good start but no longer the endgame,” says Australian haircare brand founder Kevin Murphy. “Because of that, we are seeing a really positive shift to a more preventative mindset. Rather than simply producing packaging that can be popped into a recycle bin, companies are being challenged to get resourceful with the materials they use and consumer demand is what is driving this change.” Here, five tips to help you be a more responsible beauty fan...  

1. Lose your virginity

... when it comes to plastics, that is. It’s possible to make plastic from renewable materials, such as sugarcane, like British men’s skincare brand Bulldog Skincare does. “For every 100 tonnes of sugarcane plastic used in Bulldog tubes, 309 tonnes of CO2 is taken out of the environment,” says brand founder Simon Duffey.   There are also plenty of brands using non-virgin, post-consumer recycled plastic for their packaging, including massive producers like Unilever, which recently announced a commitment to 50 percent recycled content in its North American packaging. Taking things to the next level are L’Oreal’s new Source Essentielle vegan haircare line, which is in 100 per cent recycled packaging, and Kevin Murphy’s entire range, which now comes in 100 per cent recycled packaging from ocean waste. “This initiative is a reflection of the company’s unwavering values, and represents an urgent call to action to help protect our vast oceans and marine life,” says Murphy.   Both brands also package their products in square, not round bottles, which uses less plastic and packing materials, and takes up less shipping space so the overall carbon footprint is reduced.  

2. Have your fill

Buy pretty refillable bottles (Homesense always has good options) and then fill, refill and refill once more. Some brands make this easy—L’Oreal Source Essentielle bottles can be refilled directly at salons, while brands like Kjaer Weis and Elate Cosmetics allow you to purchase refills of their makeup. Elate’s packaging is also made from sustainable bamboo, and refills come in biodegradable seed paper.      

3. Get naked

Brands like LUSH are cutting the waste by reducing overall packaging, or in some cases, cutting it completely. Around 40 percent of its range is packaging-free (the brand calls it ‘naked’ (all packaging is made from materials that are recycled, recyclable, reusable or compostable) and each new range over the past year has been offered in a naked version. LUSH even has zero-waste Naked shops in Milan, Berlin and Manchester, and is touring a bath-bomb pop-up in North America soon. Another great low-waste brand is Calgary’s Unwrapped Life, which also offers home products like laundry soap and dryer balls.    

4. Go a little further

Now that you’ve considered the more obvious beauty products, it’s time to examine things a little harder. Simon Duffey says that in 1990 (the most recent data available), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)estimated that two billion razors were thrown away each year in the US alone.   “Stats like this are why we wanted to ensure our new Original Bamboo Razor was as environmentally friendly as possible,” he says. It has a handle made from sustainable bamboo, and the packaging is recycled and printed with environmentally friendly ink. The brand is also vegan and cruelty-free international certified. Victoria-based BamBrush is taking a similar approach with toothbrushes—it makes the handles from 100 percent biodegradable moso bamboo. The nylon bristles can be removed when you’re done with your toothbrush so the handle can be composted. Then there are plastic bottles: Sure, water is a big part of your beauty regimen, but stats from Earthday.org suggest that by using a reusable bottle, you can save 156 plastic bottles a year. Brita’s dishwasher-safe Premium Filtering Water Bottle contains a filter, fits into most cup holders, and best of all, is completely leak-free.  

5. Go all the way

For products that can’t be recycled through your domestic program, there’s TerraCycle. You can buy a zero-waste box from them and fill it with toothbrushes, lipsticks and pump bottles, or you can also check out their brand partnerships. Brita customers can return filters and old water bottles or jugs to them for free. TerraCycle also facilitates a program for L’Occitane, where you can return packaging from any brand, of virtually any type, in store and receive 10 per cent off products. The Body Shop is about to launch a similar program, Return, Recycle, Repeat where those who bring five of the brand’s products receive a $10 voucher, and any other brand’s packaging can also be returned. Meanwhile, LUSH runs its own recycling scheme: when you return five of the brand’s little black pots, you get a face mask in return. And with M.A.C’s Back to M.A.C program, you get a free lippie when you give back six pieces of packaging.  

6. Tell them what you want

These days, virtually every brand is accessible on social media and via their websites, so and ask them about their sustainability and recycling efforts. The good ones are responsive, transparent, and will explain their policies to you. After that, decide which brands align with your own values—whatever they are—and spend your money there.  

When it comes to saving the planet, one social entrepreneur has been fighting the good fight for over 18 years. Along the way, Tom Szaky founder of TerraCycle has established a formidable reputation for recycling the non-recyclable. Working in 20 countries, with major partners including consumer brands municipalities and manufacturers, TerraCycle has eliminated billions of pieces of waste from the landfill through various innovative platforms. And with another pioneering initiative just about to launch, it seems Szaky is just getting started.  

Tom Szaky of TerraCycle

  [LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW] On this special Earth Month podcast, we speak with Tom Szaky who founded Terracycle in 2001 with a mission of eliminating the Idea of Waste®. His company achieves that mission through a variety of reuse, recycle, closed-loop and upcycle solutions. For example, they turn juice pouches into backpacks, granola wrappers into pencil cases and dental products into playgrounds, among plenty of other things.   In our conversation Szaky offers a primer on recycling terms and terminology, shares lessons on how to unlock scale and establish valuable corporate partnerships and gives us a glimpse into his latest initiative, Loop. The circular shopping platform delivers products in reusable packaging and then collects, cleans and refills them – an initiative meant to appeal to the consumers desire for both sustainability and convenience.   Listen to Tom’s story here.    

The Regina store has been open only a few months, but Wiid Boutique has flourished and grown as one of the new entries in the burgeoning legal pot industry. “Friday-Saturday’s are the busiest days for us, but average person count for a day would be about 350,” said the aptly named manager Caroline Green, who also represents the retail cannabis store’s six owners. People from all walks of life come to the store — first-timers and lifelong users alike — and the ages of the customers range anywhere between 19 and 95 years old. “We do get people in who are 80 years old who say, ‘I’ve never tried this before’ and because it’s legal they’re wanting to come in and try our products,” said Green. “It’s really cool.” Wiid, at 4554 Albert St. in south Regina, opened about five weeks after cannabis was legalized in Canada on Oct. 17. Green says staff have worked hard to stay ahead of the inventory shortages that have plagued the industry so far. “We’ve come close a couple of times, but we so far have not had to close our doors,” she said. “That’s definitely a good thing.” Other shops haven’t been as fortunate. The Cannabis Co. YQR opened on Nov. 10 but had to temporarily close down less than two weeks later after running out of supply. “Out of product closed til next week’s shipment. Sorry for any inconvenience!!” read a sign posted on their front door on Nov. 19. But six months in, a Saskatoon retail cannabis store owner says such growing pains for the new industry are easing. “(The supply chain) has definitely gotten better since the end of last year,” said Cierra Sieben-Chuback, owner and operator of Living Skies Cannabis in Saskatoon. “I don’t like to say that out loud just in case it seems to not be like that anymore, but so far, it seems to be getting much better.” Like Wiid Boutique, Living Skies Cannabis never had to shut down because of a supply shortage. Sieben-Chuback credits a lot of that to managing inventory through strategies like a product limit. Until a couple of months ago, the store had a two-item limit per visit to the store. Customers could still visit the store multiple times a day, but couldn’t buy more than two items at a time. “People are generally really excited — so happy that this is an option for them now,” Sieben-Chuback.

Education and enforcement

While it’s now clear where residents can buy legal cannabis, Regina police Chief Evan Bray said some are still struggling to figure out where it’s legal to consume it. “That’s something I think people are still scratching their heads on,” said Bray. “They think it’s fine to walk down the street or stand in a Tim Horton’s coffee shop and consume it. And that’s not the case.” The RPS took an educational approach to legalization in 2018, but Bray said residents can expect to see that shift to more enforcement, especially for tickets under the provincial cannabis act that target public consumption and possessing more than the legal amount. “At some point we need people to understand that there are consequences if you don’t follow the law,” he said. A handful of those kinds of tickets have been issued in Regina in 2019 so far, but police are noticing a more concerning trend since legalization — cannabis in the hands of minors. “When legalization occurred I think one of the pillars of the whole strategy from the federal government standpoint was to try and protect our youth, keep it out of the hands of youth,” said Bray. “Well that has not necessarily been the case that we have seen.”

Related

• No cannabis-related spike noted in impaired driving after legalization

The majority of pot-related calls for service have been regarding minors possessing cannabis, he said. School resource officers are dealing with it on a weekly basis in high schools across the city. Bray said officers will often follow up not just with the youth but their parents as well to make sure they understand their child was in a situation where they could have been charged. “Oftentimes that leads to deep conversations at the family supper table around safety and making good decisions,” said Bray. Saskatoon police are seeing similar trends according to Chief Troy Cooper. “We wrote about 100 tickets so far and about a third of those tickets were for minors possessing cannabis and almost a third for possession within a vehicle,” said Cooper. In contrast to the RPS’s initial education over enforcement approach, the Saskatoon Police Service opted to enforce from the start. “I’m sure that the laws were always applied with some discretion, but there was no guarantee initially that there would be a warning rather than enforcement,” he said. The SPS has so far charged three people with driving while impaired by cannabis. But not a ton of enforcement has been needed over the past six months. With only three of the seven retail cannabis permits in active use, Cooper said the rollout of cannabis has been slow and the full impact of legalization has not been felt yet. “When the legislation came into effect, we sort of expected a light switch response and we haven’t seen that at all,” said Cooper. “It’s been really sluggish and slow and I think to be honest I think that’s a good thing.” Both SPS and RPS have acquired a roadside drug screening device called the Draeger DrugTest 5000, which tests saliva for the presence of cannabis. The device is ready but has not been used in Regina yet. Housed in the police station, Bray said officers rely more on drug recognition experts (DREs) and anticipates the Draeger will likely be used in a check stop setting when officers are conducting a large volume of stops in one location. Cooper hopes to have Saskatoon’s Draeger operational within a few weeks. As of late March, Regina police had not charged anyone with driving while impaired by cannabis since legalization, but according to SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy, at least two claims have been denied due to cannabis impairment since Oct. 17. “We do not code the files differently for drugs (cannabis) than we do alcohol so there is no way for us to pull comprehensive data on this,” he said in an emailed statement.

Coming soon

The Saskatchewan government received 1,502 submissions vying for 51 permits to legally sell cannabis. Saskatoon, which has the most permits available at seven, received 177 submissions. Regina received 169 submissions competing for six available permits. Of those six permits in Regina, only three shops have opened so far, but at least two more are set to open in the coming months.

Lucid Cannabis

A Lucid Cannabis store is under construction at 681 Albert St. — formerly a Coney Island Poutine location and a Burger Baron before that — according to president and CEO Mike Podmoroff. Podmoroff said the brand embraces an adventurous and outdoorsy spirit. Based out of Edmonton, the plan is to have a chain of stores from Ontario west. “One of the things that the consumer can expect to see in our stores are sample bars,” he said. “It’s a sensory bar that is going to have a number of products on display that customers can look at, smell and get a sense of the experience before buying. Not everybody’s doing that.”

Garden Variety

Based out of Ontario, Avana Canada Inc. has partnered with Native Roots dispensary in Colorado to open several retail cannabis stores in Canada called Garden Variety. Currently operating four in Manitoba, the chain will come to Regina sometime this summer and will be located in the Scarth Street Mall. “We recently were given approval to begin the construction. The designs have been approved. Ultimately, we’re moving ahead as fast as we can,” said Zubin Jasavala, president and CEO of Avana in an interview in late March. Jasavala said all store staff, including management, at the new store will be hired locally and overseen by a regional manager for central Canada who is based out of Manitoba. “We’re really excited to be operating in Regina,” he said.

Prairie Records

Two Prairie Records stores are scheduled to open in Saskatoon on April 20, coincidentally 4-20 Day when enthusiasts celebrate pot. The musically-inclined cannabis retail store offers a unique experience by pairing music recommendations with their cannabis products. Product information is displayed in the form of a faux vinyl record to make the information easier to digest and recreate the ease of flipping through records at your favourite vintage vinyl store. Bring your chosen “record” to the front to get the actual product and receive a mini version of the record with a music playlist to take home. There are currently locations in Warman, Sask., Calgary and Edmonton. The stores are owned and operated by Westleaf Inc. which also just launched a province-wide online retail site.

Rooting for recycling

As retail stores continue to pop up and attempt to carve out a niche in the market, sellers and consumers are beginning to look at the environmental impact of legalization. Tweed and TerraCycle have teamed up to develop what they’re calling the first national recycling program in the Canadian cannabis industry. All product packaging from Tweed can be brought back to the store for recycling, and they’ll even accept some packaging from other retail stores. “It’s super important. Anybody who’s not concerned about it I don’t think is doing their job right,” said Cierra. “We have to be conscious about our environment to keep the planet clean.” At Living Skies Cannabis, packaging is collected and then picked up by Tweed and TerraCycle for recycling, where it’s melted down into plastic pellets and used to make new products. “People’s main concerns have been kind of with the price and with the amount of packaging involved, which is actually really cool to see how environmentally-conscious consumers are,” said Sieben-Chuback regarding legal retail cannabis.

Show me the money

According to data collected by Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan ranked the lowest of the provinces when it came to sales from cannabis stores in December 2018. The Prairie province accounted for only $1 million of the $55.2 million in national total sales from cannabis stores. The most sales came out of Alberta with $13.2 million, followed closely by Quebec at $12 million. Data is collected on a monthly basis, and December is the most current statistics available on the StatsCan website. In the last three months of 2018, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia saw the highest rate of cannabis use among people aged 15 years old and up. Nova Scotia saw the highest rate at 21.6 per cent of people 15 or older, Quebec saw the lowest at 13.6 per cent and Saskatchewan came in at 16.5 per cent.

Longing for local

Even though business is going well for Wiid Boutique in Regina, Green said there’s an important element that’s missing from Saskatchewan’s budding retail cannabis industry. “People love to support local businesses and being a local business as well, it would be amazing for us to be able to provide local product,” she said. There has been interest in small-town and rural Saskatchewan to set up shop as a licensed producer, but so far there are none in operation. A facility called OneLeaf-Onyx announced plans in early 2019 to produce more than 9,000 pounds of cannabis per year. In an interview in January 2018, head of OneLeaf Cannabis Corp. Mike Templeton said he hoped to be the first licensed producer located in Regina or its surrounding area. Construction was expected to wrap up in the summer of 2018 with operations beginning in the fall of 2018, but the facility is still not operational. Several requests made by the Leader-Post for an interview recently were unsuccessful. “We’re definitely interested in having those products in our store but it’s just not available to us right now,” said Green.

On the sidelines

Meanwhile, unlicensed cannabis operations are still posing a challenge for the provincial government. In November 2018, the Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation announced the opening of the Mino-Maskihki Cannabis Dispensary. The same week, the First Nation filed a lawsuit against the provincial government in Regina Court of Queen’s Bench. The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, which oversees cannabis sales, has said the First Nation must have a provincial licence to open a pot store legally and sent a warning letter saying provincial and federal legislation still applies on reserve land. The store remains open as the First Nation and provincial government work towards a resolution. Pat Warnecke, the owner of Best Buds Society, announced he was consulting for the First Nation last year. He faced several charges related to his own operations during the Regina police service’s anti-pot shop campaign, which began with raids in March 2018. He tried to keep Best Buds running despite the police crackdown. Out on court conditions not to operate a dispensary, Warnecke said he’s still working to connect patients with cannabis by facilitating exchanges between patients growing their own cannabis and other patients in need through online ordering. “We facilitate the taking of the orders and making sure people get connected with the cannabis they need, simple as that,” said Warnecke in an interview last month. He said he can’t disclose where the cannabis supply is coming from, but said a lot of patients are providing their extra cannabis to other patients free of charge. When asked if money is being exchanged for cannabis in some cases, he said he could not say. “I’m not going to incriminate anyone or anything else like that, but I’m sure it is because patients are patients,” said Warnecke. “They need to access cannabis and they’re not going to be bent over by our government and have to be three times more than they had to before.” On the Best Buds Society website people with an account can order cannabis online and have it delivered. Warnecke said they get about 200 people a day ordering online. “In our opinion, it is legal,” he said.

Looking forward

High wholesale prices due to a lack of supply are expected to decline over the next six to 12 months, according to Jasavala. “We’re going to be adjusting price over time as the wholesale costs come down,” he said of the soon-to-be Garden Variety store in Regina. In the meantime, the company has made strategic partnerships to ensure access to a broad range of products. “I think there’s growing pains in the industry right now, but we’re trying to stay ahead of all of those issues,” said Green. “We’ve managed to keep a wide variety of our menu and try to make ourselves stand out.” And she said an already busy store is about to get “a heck of a lot busier” as Wiid Boutique goes online. “We’re just excited about the industry,” she said.

REN Clean Skincare recently unveiled its first 100% recycled packaging in partnership with TerraCycle, which introduces sustainable new packaging for its Atlantic Kelp and Magnesium Anti-Fatigue Body Cream. The bottle is made with a combination of 20% reclaimed ocean plastic and 80% recycled plastic bottles. The product itself is made with nourishing shea butter, algae extract, Atlantic kelp extract and magnesium PCA, which are beneficial for restoring moisture balance, enhancing the natural cycle of cell renewal and soothing tired muscles. With the essences of sage, cypress, geranium and rosemary oils, the body cream boasts a scent that's altogether uplifting and energizing. Ultimately, REN is working towards the goal of becoming zero waste by the year 2021.  

German chemical and consumer goods company Henkel has started a free recycling programme across Canada for its Sunlight and Purex plastic detergent pouches in a partnership with TerraCycle.   As part of the programme, customers will receive TerraCycle points that can be redeemed for charity gifts or converted to cash by recycling the empty containers of Sunlight or Purex pouches in the country.   To participate in the programme, customers are required to sign up on the TerraCycle programme page and mail the package using a prepaid shipping label.   The companies will collect the packages, clean and melt them into hard plastic, and remould them to make new recycled products.   Henkel Canada general manager Mario Altan said: “Henkel has been focusing on sustainability in packaging for several decades and is now pleased to partner with TerraCycle to enable this creative approach to help ensure that Sunlight and Purex product packaging can be recycled after the product has been consumed.   “This partnership is part of our commitment that, by 2025, 100% of Henkel’s packaging will be recyclable, reusable or compostable.”   In 2016, Henkel’s Adhesive Technologies business initially partnered with TerraCycle, enabling US customers to recycle their used adhesives packaging.   Under this partnership, teams from both companies worked collaboratively to develop a process to deactivate the adhesive and remove it from the plastic packaging.   The removed material is then melted and turned into pellets to produce new products such as garbage cans, park benches and outdoor furniture.