Sun+Earth Certified brings eco-friendly weed into the mainstream

When it comes to getting real deal quality cannabis, plant cleanliness should be of paramount importance. You don’t want plants that have been sprayed with pesticides or grown using low-level methods that ultimately result in bad weed that you never want to smoke.

Weed is medicine and you never want contaminated medicine; Nor do you want your drug to have such an ecological price tag that the planet is now worse off. These are the exact views of the Sun+Earth Certified program in Humboldt County, California.

Sun+Earth Certified is based on the principles of regenerative agriculture, organic farming and community engagement and aims to highlight sun-grown cannabis growers who prioritize soil health, work to reverse the effects of climate change and ensure that the employees are involved in the creation of this fire ganja will be paid a reasonable wage.

Sunlight is known to give cannabis plants their most natural and robust chemical profiles of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds—because that’s how plants grow naturally. Sun grown cannabis, when grown with care and expertise, can be some of the best smelling, best tasting and best feeling cannabis in the world.

The Sun+Earth program recognizes these growers and also helps advance the Emerald Triangle’s legacy in cannabis and provides growers with limited resources greater access to stores and consumers.

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What is the Sun+Earth certification program and who developed it?

Sun+Earth Certified is a California non-profit organization founded on April 22, 2019, Earth Day, by David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s (the soap company), along with a team of Emerald Triangle sun-grown cannabis growers. Their goal is to create a third-party system to verify the cultivation and business standards of companies that produce organic cannabis.

In particular, it was created to highlight companies that practice regenerative agriculture and follow good business practices, treat their employees well and give back to the community.

Why is Sun+Earth certification important?

The notion that cannabis grown in the sun is of poor quality needs to be debunked. Since most of the weed you see on store shelves is grown indoors, people assume that outside is junk. Not correct. The “best” type of weed is subjective, but it’s important to understand all the benefits of cannabis grown in the sun.

The cannabis plant is packed with a number of different compounds that make weed smell, taste, and feel great. Bringing out these qualities during cultivation is primarily a matter of expertise, but there is no denying that sunlight is capable of bringing out a more complete profile of terpenes and other compounds than artificial light.

In addition, the carbon footprint of cannabis grown in the sun is much lower than that of indoor and even greenhouse cannabis farms. It requires a lot more energy and overhead to produce indoor and mixed-light cannabis than purely sun-grown cannabis. This, combined with the benefits of regenerative agriculture, makes companies that are Sun+Earth certified extremely attractive to environmentally conscious consumers.

Third, Sun+Earth Certified also acts as a philanthropist by providing financial support to small producers. The program was not only developed by Dr. Bronner’s created but also supported by them.

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Sunbright Gardens, a specialty outdoor gardener in Mendocino County, was able to receive financial support that drastically reduced its Sun+Earth membership dues. In addition, they were highlighted by the Weed Like Change campaign. Without the help and encouragement, Sunbright might have gone haywire.

“We weren’t able to get into stores,” said Monique Ramirez, co-founder of Sunbright Gardens. “When the Weed Like Change campaign launched, they opened so many doors that we could never have easily opened on our own and connected us to these amazing retailers who are not just interested in cannabis and the sun grown movement, but really small ones want to support farms and reward us fairly.”

The Weed Like Change campaign educates the public about the environmental benefits of regenerative organic farming and helps strengthen the market for companies that practice it.

“[Sun+Earth and Dr. Bronner’s] are putting so much energy into trying to help us succeed and spread the message about regenerative farming practices here,” said Ramirez. “It gives us hope that we might actually make it. If we didn’t have this opportunity, I don’t know what we would do now.”

What are the three pillars of Sun+Earth Certified?

Sun+Earth Certified has three pillars or core principles that they prioritize and promote and hope to be a benchmark for standards in the cannabis industry.

Care and cultivation of the earth

Regenerative agriculture is the main pillar of Sun+Earth and a mandatory part of participating in the program. Practices such as mulching, crop rotation, cover crops and other techniques promote soil regeneration, combat topsoil erosion, increase biodiversity and build healthy soil ecosystems. Healthy soil helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and capture CO2.

human empowerment

Sun+Earth’s definition of human empowerment depends on how well you treat your employees and whether you provide them with a fair, livable wage.

Not only must your practices give back to the earth, but they must also give back to those around you.

“Sun+Earth’s standards for community involvement are threefold: operations must include a written statement of community involvement; Farms to improve and collaborate with the local community; and certified farms must participate in an annual agricultural knowledge sharing activity,” said Kris Hermes, public relations at Sun+Earth.

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How do companies become Sun+Earth certified?

Farms and product manufacturers that produce extracts from organic alcohol or CO2 undergo a rigorous screening process to receive certification, said Andrew Black, executive director of Sun+Earth Certified.

The screening process includes online application, farm inspection and soil testing for more than 300 pesticides. “If there are no concerns about the results of the soil analysis and no major non-compliance issues are identified upon inspection, we will approve the certification and allow a farm or product manufacturer to use the Sun+Earth Certified logo and name to attest it.” market products,” said Black.

In terms of fees, the annual cost of certification is $2,200. dr However, Bronner’s often provides financial support to Sun+Earth partners to make the fee more bearable. “Thanks to a generous donation from Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, we were able to reduce the annual certification fee to just $400 for up to 75 farms in 2022,” Black said.

Dante Jordan

Danté Jordan is a former member of the Leafly Subject Matter Expert team and currently a freelance writer, video producer and media consultant specializing in cannabis culture, strains, products, education and everything else related to this little green flower. Contact him at smokingwithdante on Instagram or datenetworks(at)gmail(dotcom). His website is www.dantejordan.com.

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