Holy Smokes!

The following is a guest post by Skippy Massey:

Excuse me, but are you stepping on me or is that just your carbon footprint? Big weed is also a big energy suck. As if we didn’t know?

Dr. Evan Mills, staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, delivered a surprising lecture at Humboldt State University on October 6 of his study on the carbon footprint of  indoor cannabis production. Dr. Mills previously garnered international attention with his research paper, “Energy Up in Smoke,” before hitting Humboldt’s Ground Zero for the first time Thursday.

INDOOR marijuana cultivation as a whole, including both medical and illegal grows, is a multi-billion-dollar business,” Mills said. “It’s also one that consumes a huge amount of electricity.” Mill’s work estimated that 1 percent of the nation’s electricity is consumed by indoor marijuana cultivation and indoor pot grows carry a heavy carbon price tag. “The amount of energy needed to grow a  single joint’s worth of marijuana indoors could keep a 100-watt light bulb running for 17 hours. In California alone, the amount would power about 3 million homes– representing the enormous carbon footprint used by growers,” he said.

THE average indoor marijuana grow is obviously very energy intensive. Mills’ study found that growing the average kilogram of marijuana indoors produced 4,600 kilograms of CO2; or, about “the same level of emissions created by driving a Toyota Prius across the country eight times.” The worst of these indoor grows produced nearly 7,500 kilograms of CO2 per marijuana kilogram, he noted.

PUTTING this into another perspective, the average four-by-four-by-eight-foot indoor grow space consumes the electricity of 30 refrigerators– or an average home. Diesel generator powered grows– common in Humboldt County—have an even larger carbon footprint, producing three times more emissions creating electricity than does Pacific Gas and Electric Co. Mills pointed out the array of energy sucking equipment used ranges from 1,000 watt lights, fans, pumps, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, dryers, and more. There are even gas powered bud trimmers with built-in iPod docks.

CRAFTING a model of the average grow space for research, Mills also utilized interviews with people in the indoor garden supply business, trade literature, and published reports. “In the best case model,” Mills said, “CO2 production dropped to around 1,000 kilograms” and noting that “being carbon neutral is possible.

“THE indoor marijuana industry spends $6 billion a year on energy,” Mills said, and “better efficiencies can be found resulting in energy cost savings of up to $1,000 a pound for producers.

THE basic problem, Mills says, is that there are “no best-practice” manuals for energy efficient indoor marijuana cultivation. Many grow houses are assembled using “friends’ advice, cultural habits– and a lot of misinformation, he believes. “The range of practices are wide, varying– and rarely optimal. The solution to creating a more energy-efficient industry is largely one through education. Mills would like to see more studies on the topic, examining efficiency potentials, yield-to-strain ratios, energy impacts associated with transporting marijuana to market, and the carbon footprint of outdoor grows. He advocates having third parties evaluate and rate indoor garden equipment for energy efficiency.

ADDITIONALLY, Mills suggests medical marijuana dispensaries post a carbon footprint grade on their products as some do with THC content and strand names. There’s also the budding question to ask of whether legalization could result in better efficiencies and what types of regulations could lead to a more carbon-neutral product.

MILLS also put overall marijuana usage into perspective for the 30 members of the audience attending:

16 states have some form of a medical marijuana industry and at least 730,000 Americans holding some form of doctor’s recommendation for medical marijuana. There are almost 17 million regular marijuana users in America.” Dr. Mills said. “In California, there are 2,165 McDonald’s restaurants, 2,010 Starbucks coffee shops– and 2,600 medical marijuana dispensaries. Annual medical marijuana sales receipts outpace Viagra almost two-to-one,” he added.

That’s some potent pot and profits— producing a costly carbon footprint to boot.

(More information about Dr. Evan Mills is found at his Energy Associates website.

Information for this report was sourced from Thadeus Greenson’s Times-Standard article, “Indoor Pot Grows Carry Heavy Carbon Price”

Readers may also be interested in Mr. Greenson’s recent Times-Standard article, Keeping the Lights On: Indoor Pot Growers Skirt High Electric Bills Through Discount Program for Low Income Households”)

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Northrop Grumman
Guest
Northrop Grumman
12 years ago

I gotta say I don’t go along with this carbon footprint stuff. Just a scam by the politicians to get in our pockets. Mother nature is the real culprit. However for those of you that panic every time a carbon molecule floats by and want to follow the piper, don’t forget about the folks that use a carbon dioxide enriched atmosphere for their grows.

Anon
Guest
Anon
12 years ago

It’s a shame outdoor pot is so crappy it’s not worth smoking…

G.I.B.
Guest
G.I.B.
12 years ago
Reply to  Anon

You haven’t tried mine 🙂

Ben Schill
Guest
Ben Schill
12 years ago

Hi Kym… Here’s a really important topic discussion off to a strange start… The next time Dr. Mills speaks, I would expect a much larger crowd… I wonder if he realizes that if a major gain in efficiency is possible, many growers would just put in more lights. Despite al the gloom and doom, pot is still selling at prices hat make it a highly profitable business. The contrast between this last season and the heyday of CAMP is astonishing but the CAMP price support put some pounds at over $5,000.
Growers have realized that high THC varieties like OG Kush, grow quite well outdoors and are often sold to folks like our friend Anon as indoor weed. The folks who will make the bucks in this economy will continue to be the growers supplies and soil producers. I suspect hey will see a huge increase in sales until something dramatic happens to the industry…

Scob Do
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  Ben Schill

Ben, you have been selling outdoor as indoor to Anon. HA HA HA. Don`t worry, he will never catch on

pot math
Guest
pot math
12 years ago

carbon calculator

“carbon dioxide enriched atmosphere for their grows”

Average enrichment requires 5 gallons propane per month.

5 gallons / month * 0.0058 metric tons CO2 / gallon = 0.029 metric tons CO2 / month

Average carbon coefficient of electricity = 0.000685 metric tons CO2 / kilowatt hour

Average household uses 1200 kilowatt hours / month. 1200 kilowatt hours / month * 0.000685 metric tons CO2 / kilowatt hour = 0.822 metric tons CO2 / month

0.82 / 0.029 = 28

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago

“The amount of energy needed to grow a single joint’s worth of marijuana indoors could keep a 100-watt light bulb running for 17 hours… ”

Interestingly (to me), a single joint of marijuana (taken in two or three installments) is about enough to keep me running for 17 hours. I guess that means roughly an equal exchange… too bad the Indoor’s energy would come from Nature in a deleterious way, rather than via the old-fashioned solar freebie.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

two words: carbon monoxide.

hybrid word: sheeple.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

two words: carbon monoxide.

hybrid word: sheeple.

Jack
Guest
12 years ago

U.S.A. out of California .

Jack
Guest
12 years ago

U.S.A. out of California .

pot math
Guest
pot math
12 years ago

1kg beef = 100 watt bulb running 480 hours = one oz. cannabis lightbulb hours

pot math
Guest
pot math
12 years ago

1kg beef = 100 watt bulb running 480 hours = one oz. cannabis lightbulb hours

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

More surprising details from Dr. Evan Mill’s report:

Large-scale, highly energy-intensive indoor cannabis cultivation is driven by criminalization, pursuit of security, and the desire for greater control and yields.

Grow lighting is as intense as that found in an operating room (500-times more than needed for reading), 6-times the air-change rate of a bio-tech laboratory and 60-times that of a home, and the electric power intensity of a data center. Indoor grows are estimated to use 22 billion kilowatt-hours per year, or one-sixth the power used by all refrigerators in the US—and one third used by all data centers.

Averaged nationally, about one-quarter of the wholesale price of cannabis is attributed to energy costs. In regions with high electricity tariffs or the use of inefficient off-grid power generators, this value can approach half the total cost of cannabis production. For off-grid production, it requires 70 gallons of diesel fuel to produce one indoor cannabis plant, or 140 gallons with smaller, less-efficient gasoline generators.

Energy use for indoor cannabis production can be reduced dramatically. Cost-effective efficiency improvements of 75% are conceivable, which would yield energy savings of about $25,000/year for a generic 10-module growing room. As noted in the article, cost reductions of $1,000 per pound are possible.

Shifting cultivation outdoors does eliminate most energy uses, except transportation. However, outdoor grows often have their own pollution specific problems.

This isn’t simply a California Cannabis issue, let alone a “counter-culture” or “hippie” issue. Its mainstream and it’s pervasive.

The UN says 10% of North American citizens use cannabis on a regular basis, and most of the cannabis production is actually not even in California any more. Only 1/5th of national cannabis-related emissions come from California.

Given a proven outdoor climate, environmental stewardship, and our unique marijuana entrepreneurism, Humboldt could– and should– represent a fraction of that amount and in leading the way through greater energy efficiencies.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

More surprising details from Dr. Evan Mill’s report:

Large-scale, highly energy-intensive indoor cannabis cultivation is driven by criminalization, pursuit of security, and the desire for greater control and yields.

Grow lighting is as intense as that found in an operating room (500-times more than needed for reading), 6-times the air-change rate of a bio-tech laboratory and 60-times that of a home, and the electric power intensity of a data center. Indoor grows are estimated to use 22 billion kilowatt-hours per year, or one-sixth the power used by all refrigerators in the US—and one third used by all data centers.

Averaged nationally, about one-quarter of the wholesale price of cannabis is attributed to energy costs. In regions with high electricity tariffs or the use of inefficient off-grid power generators, this value can approach half the total cost of cannabis production. For off-grid production, it requires 70 gallons of diesel fuel to produce one indoor cannabis plant, or 140 gallons with smaller, less-efficient gasoline generators.

Energy use for indoor cannabis production can be reduced dramatically. Cost-effective efficiency improvements of 75% are conceivable, which would yield energy savings of about $25,000/year for a generic 10-module growing room. As noted in the article, cost reductions of $1,000 per pound are possible.

Shifting cultivation outdoors does eliminate most energy uses, except transportation. However, outdoor grows often have their own pollution specific problems.

This isn’t simply a California Cannabis issue, let alone a “counter-culture” or “hippie” issue. Its mainstream and it’s pervasive.

The UN says 10% of North American citizens use cannabis on a regular basis, and most of the cannabis production is actually not even in California any more. Only 1/5th of national cannabis-related emissions come from California.

Given a proven outdoor climate, environmental stewardship, and our unique marijuana entrepreneurism, Humboldt could– and should– represent a fraction of that amount and in leading the way through greater energy efficiencies.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

skippy says: “Indoor grows are estimated to use 22 billion kilowatt-hours per year, or one-sixth the power used by all refrigerators in the US—and one third used by all data centers”

Throw your fucking frozen ham hocks out into the nearest clump of vegetation for the starving wildlife, you glutonous fucks…to tell an unjustly criminalized people that they’re a parasite to society…let alone a costco society…otherwise smiling as you wade through the pig shit of gross consumption…is over the top. Drive your stupid fucking piece of shit brand spanking new future clunker vehicles to New York and blog and tweet and text about it from there, dumbasses. Really fucking stupid.

Scob Do
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Random Guy: You can say that again !!!

G.I.B.
Guest
G.I.B.
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

RG…. I agree with your message 1000% but your point gets lost in all the profanity.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Yeah, i really don’t like your nasty tone either, Random Guy, but i totally agree that if we’re talking about greed and waste, most of the oldish-timer growers i know here are making little tiny drops in the bucket, compared to the mainstream world. Granted i know there are lots of incredibly greedy growers lately, and i’m happy every time one of them gets popped. But people who grow herb to maintain their lives outside the stream of crap that most of this country seems to rely on? It’s not as if we need to be righteous enough that we can say, “My lifestyle is so valuable, and i am contributing so much, that it’s worth making a double carbon footprint!” Maybe that would be a little presumptuous. How about, it’s worth it if we are NOT buying 90% of the junk that people playing that game routinely consume… and believe they need. And we are not working to produce or market any unnecessary junk, either.
One of the oldest ploys in the book is that accusation that people are not right-living enough to do whatever good they are doing– e.g., when someone asks, How can an environmentalist talk, when she drives a car too! How can an anti-materialist talk, when he uses paper or a computer to make his points? As if we’re supposed to cower down, saying “Oh you’re right, until i’m 100% holy and footprint-free, i won’t say a thing about the rest of the world…” and totally disable ourselves from functioning in this world that we did not, and would not, create.
Every time i go out into the “real world” and feel the buzz of a gazillion electronic devices, the roars of engines, air conditioning, fans, mindless audio and video brain-filler, etc., i shake my head over the idea that people who have chosen to escape this end up pointing fingers at each other over who is using up the most resources. All i know is, if you’re making enough to keep yourself and your loved ones warm, dry, and fed, and you’re NOT trying to make yourself king of the hill or king of the next several decades with what you’re growing this year, i have no problem with you or whatever you’re doing.

ohmy
Guest
ohmy
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Big difference: ham=legal. Food= need. Pot=want. Who’s the glutton?

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

skippy says: “Indoor grows are estimated to use 22 billion kilowatt-hours per year, or one-sixth the power used by all refrigerators in the US—and one third used by all data centers”

Throw your fucking frozen ham hocks out into the nearest clump of vegetation for the starving wildlife, you glutonous fucks…to tell an unjustly criminalized people that they’re a parasite to society…let alone a costco society…otherwise smiling as you wade through the pig shit of gross consumption…is over the top. Drive your stupid fucking piece of shit brand spanking new future clunker vehicles to New York and blog and tweet and text about it from there, dumbasses. Really fucking stupid.

Scob Do
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Random Guy: You can say that again !!!

G.I.B.
Guest
G.I.B.
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

RG…. I agree with your message 1000% but your point gets lost in all the profanity.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Yeah, i really don’t like your nasty tone either, Random Guy, but i totally agree that if we’re talking about greed and waste, most of the oldish-timer growers i know here are making little tiny drops in the bucket, compared to the mainstream world. Granted i know there are lots of incredibly greedy growers lately, and i’m happy every time one of them gets popped. But people who grow herb to maintain their lives outside the stream of crap that most of this country seems to rely on? It’s not as if we need to be righteous enough that we can say, “My lifestyle is so valuable, and i am contributing so much, that it’s worth making a double carbon footprint!” Maybe that would be a little presumptuous. How about, it’s worth it if we are NOT buying 90% of the junk that people playing that game routinely consume… and believe they need. And we are not working to produce or market any unnecessary junk, either.
One of the oldest ploys in the book is that accusation that people are not right-living enough to do whatever good they are doing– e.g., when someone asks, How can an environmentalist talk, when she drives a car too! How can an anti-materialist talk, when he uses paper or a computer to make his points? As if we’re supposed to cower down, saying “Oh you’re right, until i’m 100% holy and footprint-free, i won’t say a thing about the rest of the world…” and totally disable ourselves from functioning in this world that we did not, and would not, create.
Every time i go out into the “real world” and feel the buzz of a gazillion electronic devices, the roars of engines, air conditioning, fans, mindless audio and video brain-filler, etc., i shake my head over the idea that people who have chosen to escape this end up pointing fingers at each other over who is using up the most resources. All i know is, if you’re making enough to keep yourself and your loved ones warm, dry, and fed, and you’re NOT trying to make yourself king of the hill or king of the next several decades with what you’re growing this year, i have no problem with you or whatever you’re doing.

ohmy
Guest
ohmy
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Big difference: ham=legal. Food= need. Pot=want. Who’s the glutton?

moldy
Guest
moldy
12 years ago

Yeah, blame the indoor growers. If it was legal we wouldn’t have to hide like criminals. Even though I’m supposedly legal in my state growing outside would get me in deep do-do. If growen properly outside weed is just as good as indoor chronic anyday IMO.

moldy
Guest
moldy
12 years ago

Yeah, blame the indoor growers. If it was legal we wouldn’t have to hide like criminals. Even though I’m supposedly legal in my state growing outside would get me in deep do-do. If growen properly outside weed is just as good as indoor chronic anyday IMO.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Yes, the uniquely American idea of conspicuous consumption. In California we’re asked to turn off the lights and conserve water… while Las Vegas uses both like nobody’s business.

In Humboldt, we’ve seen the Mom ‘n Pop outdoor grower give way to the larger scale and energy intensive indoor grows. Can growers reduce costs, energy use, and produce cannabis for consumers and patients alike at a lower cost, as Dr. Mills noted?

Some may remember this deja vu almost a year ago today:

For many years, development at Shelter Cove was limited by lack of electricity. Homeowners depended on generators. In 1983, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. ran an electrical line along the 21-mile road that connects the cove to Highway 101. The line’s limited capacity was more than adequate for a community where the average household use was a modest 500 to 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month.

Then growers moved their crops indoors and installed high-intensity lights. “We maxed out our system very quickly when this started,” said Richard Culp, the resort’s general manager. “We’re seeing 5,000, 6,000, 8,000, 9,000 kilowatt-hours of use a month.”

HOPING to halt the trend, the resort’s utility nearly tripled the hourly rate for usage above 2,000 kilowatt-hours a month. When that made no difference, the rate for heavy usage was raised to five times the normal charge. Growers simply added more plants and lights to generate income to pay the extra cost.

The cove’s backup generator had to be replaced, at a cost of $500,000. Last year, PG&E informed Shelter Cove that it would have to kick in $300,000 to expand the capacity of the electrical line.

In all, the resort estimates that indoor pot-growing has cost its residents more than $1 million since 2005.”
( Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2010)

… And how much energy did it take to produce that massive 309 pounds of trimmed weed busted in Ferndale yesterday?

Random Guy brought up a good point for clarification. I’ll try to answer a few key questions about this– and Dr. Mill’s study– in another post.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Yes, the uniquely American idea of conspicuous consumption. In California we’re asked to turn off the lights and conserve water… while Las Vegas uses both like nobody’s business.

In Humboldt, we’ve seen the Mom ‘n Pop outdoor grower give way to the larger scale and energy intensive indoor grows. Can growers reduce costs, energy use, and produce cannabis for consumers and patients alike at a lower cost, as Dr. Mills noted?

Some may remember this deja vu almost a year ago today:

For many years, development at Shelter Cove was limited by lack of electricity. Homeowners depended on generators. In 1983, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. ran an electrical line along the 21-mile road that connects the cove to Highway 101. The line’s limited capacity was more than adequate for a community where the average household use was a modest 500 to 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month.

Then growers moved their crops indoors and installed high-intensity lights. “We maxed out our system very quickly when this started,” said Richard Culp, the resort’s general manager. “We’re seeing 5,000, 6,000, 8,000, 9,000 kilowatt-hours of use a month.”

HOPING to halt the trend, the resort’s utility nearly tripled the hourly rate for usage above 2,000 kilowatt-hours a month. When that made no difference, the rate for heavy usage was raised to five times the normal charge. Growers simply added more plants and lights to generate income to pay the extra cost.

The cove’s backup generator had to be replaced, at a cost of $500,000. Last year, PG&E informed Shelter Cove that it would have to kick in $300,000 to expand the capacity of the electrical line.

In all, the resort estimates that indoor pot-growing has cost its residents more than $1 million since 2005.”
( Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2010)

… And how much energy did it take to produce that massive 309 pounds of trimmed weed busted in Ferndale yesterday?

Random Guy brought up a good point for clarification. I’ll try to answer a few key questions about this– and Dr. Mill’s study– in another post.

pot math
Guest
pot math
12 years ago

Commercial indoor flowering average 2 lb per 720 kilowatt hours. 309 lb = about 111,000 kilowatt hours = annual energy use of 8-10 homes.

pot math
Guest
pot math
12 years ago

Commercial indoor flowering average 2 lb per 720 kilowatt hours. 309 lb = about 111,000 kilowatt hours = annual energy use of 8-10 homes.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Don’t bogart that megawatt, my friend

Random Guy and others have brought up good points needing clarification. Here are three questions– and a conclusion– wrapping up this thread.

WHAT ‘S THE PURPOSE OF DR. MILLS STUDY?

This study simply aims to identify an important component of energy demand in the United States. This study does not pass judgment on the merits of cannabis cultivation nor make recommendations how to reduce this energy use. It observes reversible inefficiencies are common in current practices.

WHAT’S MISSED OR BUNGLED?

1. •A number of media reports inaccurately associate the work with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. The work was conducted independently on Dr. Mills’ own time. This study was conducted independently with no sponsorship or affiliation. Dr. Mills is a long-time energy analyst with expertise on energy efficiency and climate change issues.

2. •Some observers have spun the story into a blame-game rather than a “what do we do about this problem?” challenge, with responsibility being dumped exclusively on the growers’ doorstep rather than the consumers and others who can powerfully influence the energy choices being made.

3. •Few of the reports recognize that there are solutions here. There’s a lot of room for a more virtuous cycle. This is an energy-using sector that has been uniquely passed over by decades of efforts to improve efficiency. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit which should be good news to everyone concerned. Costs can be significantly lowered.

DOES THIS STUDY SUPPORT THE CASE FOR CRIMNINALIZATION?

No. In fact, many argue that criminalization is an important driver towards energy-intensive indoor production. Mills’ information suggests an improved role of energy use, in much the same way that we address the energy use and fuel economy of our cars, buildings, and appliances.

THE SHORT CONCLUSION:

Humboldt County Cannabis is highly recognized for leaving a smaller carbon footprint than others. Humboldt can grow outdoors utilizing the marvels of nature, producing the gold standard of high quality cannabis that we are known the world over for.
Sustainable cannabis is grown outdoors avoiding energy intensive, high cost and carbon footprint methods. We should care about the health of Humboldt’s precious watersheds and avoid fertilization techniques that affect ground and stream water.
Humboldt’s expert cannabis growers in our unique micro climate have created heirloom seed strains and innovative cross breeds, bred for potency and efficacy. As medical cannabis ‘comes out of the closet’, our growers could represent the best of Humboldt’s long history of both cannabis and environmental activism.

~And carbon credit offsets won’t have to be sold with those eighths.

That’s all, folks!

More Reading
Dr. Mills’ Study: Energy– Up in Smoke
New York Times article– and readers comments

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  skippy

Another great piece, Skippy.

I agree with your conclusions 100%.

If I had my druthers, more people would be growing it outdoors, in the sun and soil. But to protect our waterways, folks need to be storing a lot more water during the rainy season, so that they’re not drawing water from the creeks and rivers during the dry months.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Don’t bogart that megawatt, my friend

Random Guy and others have brought up good points needing clarification. Here are three questions– and a conclusion– wrapping up this thread.

WHAT ‘S THE PURPOSE OF DR. MILLS STUDY?

This study simply aims to identify an important component of energy demand in the United States. This study does not pass judgment on the merits of cannabis cultivation nor make recommendations how to reduce this energy use. It observes reversible inefficiencies are common in current practices.

WHAT’S MISSED OR BUNGLED?

1. •A number of media reports inaccurately associate the work with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. The work was conducted independently on Dr. Mills’ own time. This study was conducted independently with no sponsorship or affiliation. Dr. Mills is a long-time energy analyst with expertise on energy efficiency and climate change issues.

2. •Some observers have spun the story into a blame-game rather than a “what do we do about this problem?” challenge, with responsibility being dumped exclusively on the growers’ doorstep rather than the consumers and others who can powerfully influence the energy choices being made.

3. •Few of the reports recognize that there are solutions here. There’s a lot of room for a more virtuous cycle. This is an energy-using sector that has been uniquely passed over by decades of efforts to improve efficiency. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit which should be good news to everyone concerned. Costs can be significantly lowered.

DOES THIS STUDY SUPPORT THE CASE FOR CRIMNINALIZATION?

No. In fact, many argue that criminalization is an important driver towards energy-intensive indoor production. Mills’ information suggests an improved role of energy use, in much the same way that we address the energy use and fuel economy of our cars, buildings, and appliances.

THE SHORT CONCLUSION:

Humboldt County Cannabis is highly recognized for leaving a smaller carbon footprint than others. Humboldt can grow outdoors utilizing the marvels of nature, producing the gold standard of high quality cannabis that we are known the world over for.
Sustainable cannabis is grown outdoors avoiding energy intensive, high cost and carbon footprint methods. We should care about the health of Humboldt’s precious watersheds and avoid fertilization techniques that affect ground and stream water.
Humboldt’s expert cannabis growers in our unique micro climate have created heirloom seed strains and innovative cross breeds, bred for potency and efficacy. As medical cannabis ‘comes out of the closet’, our growers could represent the best of Humboldt’s long history of both cannabis and environmental activism.

~And carbon credit offsets won’t have to be sold with those eighths.

That’s all, folks!

More Reading
Dr. Mills’ Study: Energy– Up in Smoke
New York Times article– and readers comments

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  skippy

Another great piece, Skippy.

I agree with your conclusions 100%.

If I had my druthers, more people would be growing it outdoors, in the sun and soil. But to protect our waterways, folks need to be storing a lot more water during the rainy season, so that they’re not drawing water from the creeks and rivers during the dry months.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

Together with innovative control over most applicable finances utilizing the vast wealth of collateral blatancies, we can focus a genial development of highly aspiring organizational effectiveness to broadcast legitimate and salacious nuances surrounding the practical indifferences of forgoing conglomerated measures. It’s not unlike idealized conceptions of versatile laundering that we can come to join neocon resolutions with the facade that is our inverse heliospam, a virtual barometer of endoclinical brackets that refuse to ignore an underlying valve stem on or around the circumference of an issue as widely proclaimed as this to be on par with today’s future in retrospective heed, so it’s important to remember our recognition of recognizance for the sake of producing the pointed outpouring of cranial support into and over the walls of such integrated theories as those who would transport ergocentric nomenclature to respite, and you are a simple minded dipshit who can’t see the forest through the trees.

That’s all, dipshit!

More Reading:
Less internet.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

Together with innovative control over most applicable finances utilizing the vast wealth of collateral blatancies, we can focus a genial development of highly aspiring organizational effectiveness to broadcast legitimate and salacious nuances surrounding the practical indifferences of forgoing conglomerated measures. It’s not unlike idealized conceptions of versatile laundering that we can come to join neocon resolutions with the facade that is our inverse heliospam, a virtual barometer of endoclinical brackets that refuse to ignore an underlying valve stem on or around the circumference of an issue as widely proclaimed as this to be on par with today’s future in retrospective heed, so it’s important to remember our recognition of recognizance for the sake of producing the pointed outpouring of cranial support into and over the walls of such integrated theories as those who would transport ergocentric nomenclature to respite, and you are a simple minded dipshit who can’t see the forest through the trees.

That’s all, dipshit!

More Reading:
Less internet.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

Here is the obvious: People who choose to be outspokenly opposed to cultivating marijijuana…plants…with the help of electricity…might want to focus their efforts on countless other organized uses for electricity far or near to them first. Marijuana is a very physically and mentally beneficial plant. Enough people alive today are saying it from experience, and people have been saying it for centuries. As much as is being grown is being consumed. Regardless of how it’s being grown. Very healthy marijuana plants are being grown right now with the help of electric lights. The ceilings of every large store in this country are covered with lights that grow nothing but garbage by means of pollution. How much of your own daily life involves electricity? Take a look in any garbage can and tell us where electricity is being wasted.

Now decide how you are going to spend your time communicating enlightenment or whatever, protest or otherwise.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

Here is the obvious: People who choose to be outspokenly opposed to cultivating marijijuana…plants…with the help of electricity…might want to focus their efforts on countless other organized uses for electricity far or near to them first. Marijuana is a very physically and mentally beneficial plant. Enough people alive today are saying it from experience, and people have been saying it for centuries. As much as is being grown is being consumed. Regardless of how it’s being grown. Very healthy marijuana plants are being grown right now with the help of electric lights. The ceilings of every large store in this country are covered with lights that grow nothing but garbage by means of pollution. How much of your own daily life involves electricity? Take a look in any garbage can and tell us where electricity is being wasted.

Now decide how you are going to spend your time communicating enlightenment or whatever, protest or otherwise.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

(Just putting the information out there… for folks to take or leave as they wish)

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  skippy

That’s a bold faced lie. You’re spinning an agenda and anyone who’s not totally blind can see it.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

(Just putting the information out there… for folks to take or leave as they wish)

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  skippy

That’s a bold faced lie. You’re spinning an agenda and anyone who’s not totally blind can see it.

Staff
Member
12 years ago

Having an agenda is a good thing in my opinion. It means you care and are trying to do good. Offering information to support an opinion seems like an excellent means to create a better world. Whether Skippy is or is not for growing as much pot outdoors as is possible, he’s given me some information I appreciate. Thanks Skippy.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  Staff

Kym, having an agenda is not the same thing as spinning an agenda.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Thank you for your opinion. Contrary or not, let’s put them all on the table! Folks can decide for themselves what’s best.

What part is offensive, untrue, or spun? That appliance efficiencies can be improved? That costs can be lowered? That we can tread lighter? That costs, such as the Shelter Cove example, affect us all? Or not? Should we look the other way– or is this a timely subject? Should we take initiative in our energy consumption and be progressive?

A beautiful thing about choices is that one can always change their mind– or not– and do things differently as they choose, given a variety of information and options.

Really. Let’s get more opinions on how folks think. More discussion is good.

Staff
Member
12 years ago

Having an agenda is a good thing in my opinion. It means you care and are trying to do good. Offering information to support an opinion seems like an excellent means to create a better world. Whether Skippy is or is not for growing as much pot outdoors as is possible, he’s given me some information I appreciate. Thanks Skippy.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  Staff

Kym, having an agenda is not the same thing as spinning an agenda.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Thank you for your opinion. Contrary or not, let’s put them all on the table! Folks can decide for themselves what’s best.

What part is offensive, untrue, or spun? That appliance efficiencies can be improved? That costs can be lowered? That we can tread lighter? That costs, such as the Shelter Cove example, affect us all? Or not? Should we look the other way– or is this a timely subject? Should we take initiative in our energy consumption and be progressive?

A beautiful thing about choices is that one can always change their mind– or not– and do things differently as they choose, given a variety of information and options.

Really. Let’s get more opinions on how folks think. More discussion is good.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

“Offering information to support an opinion seems like an excellent means to create a better world.”

Is that a Barney the purple dinosaur quote for adults?

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Thanks, Random, for your clarifications (“Here is the obvious”); i am one of those people who likes things to be laid out clearly with no B.S. A lot of people need that and appreciate a little Barney wisdom cheerfully and freely offered.

But when you diss someone for simply stating her logic in defending someone else from attack, and you do it in a rude and condescending manner, you appear to be a juvenile lout who needs an attitude rearrangement. (Come on now; I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family… right?)

It undermines any good points you have made when people see that not any Random Guy but a grumpy, Purple Meanie Guy is behind them. Go have a toke and chill your anger!

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey

Profanity is only grammatically correct when profane. If anybody I addressed is put off by it, then I used the words properly. Say it and mean it or what the fuck.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Hahaha, that’s good… but don’t you see that when more of your important words are profane than not, your point is entirely lost, like in some teenage-aimed Hollywood “comedy”– they say Fuck so many times you either don’t hear it, or you turn it off because it’s like listening to Pig Latin… just an annoying affectation after awhile.

Random Guy, i think you would have a shot at being a true acerbic wit, if you challenged yourself to leave behind the crutch of conventional profanity!

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey

What’s better? –“frozen ham hocks” or “fucking frozen ham hocks” … I don’t find his language to be objectionable. And I don’t think it contains an uncalled for amount of, or use of, profanity. Nor do I think it “undermines his good points”. I think it’s more like it underlines them. I like what he says just the way he says it. Why can’t people except, and listen to, others’ linguistic expression the way it is, instead of always having to play the mother who wants to improve them, and to turn them into a “a true acerbic wit”? –ew.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago

Anne, i guess most people write on the internet to some extent to show others what they think, maybe even that their way of thinking is worthy of trying. You know, they write to influence people and events.

If not, why not just keep your thoughts to yourself? Go shout them into a hole in the ground, or subject only your family to your ravings. If indeed you are just blowing off steam and don’t give a fuck if anyone agrees with you, then go ahead and write any crazy stupid shit you want… you will probably be tolerated. If however you would like to be heard, you might consider that how you present things matters. And it’s not just language, it’s attitude… if i see a post by someone who is always angry and carries on personal vendettas to vent their hostilities, i can’t take their opinions very seriously… they’ve become inconsequential. To me.

Just sayin’. I know i sound like Barney playing Mother… but isn’t everyone who writes on here trying to improve something or someone? LIttle improvements like civil treatment of each other are maybe all i can get my little mind around.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey
random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

“Offering information to support an opinion seems like an excellent means to create a better world.”

Is that a Barney the purple dinosaur quote for adults?

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Thanks, Random, for your clarifications (“Here is the obvious”); i am one of those people who likes things to be laid out clearly with no B.S. A lot of people need that and appreciate a little Barney wisdom cheerfully and freely offered.

But when you diss someone for simply stating her logic in defending someone else from attack, and you do it in a rude and condescending manner, you appear to be a juvenile lout who needs an attitude rearrangement. (Come on now; I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family… right?)

It undermines any good points you have made when people see that not any Random Guy but a grumpy, Purple Meanie Guy is behind them. Go have a toke and chill your anger!

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey

Profanity is only grammatically correct when profane. If anybody I addressed is put off by it, then I used the words properly. Say it and mean it or what the fuck.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Hahaha, that’s good… but don’t you see that when more of your important words are profane than not, your point is entirely lost, like in some teenage-aimed Hollywood “comedy”– they say Fuck so many times you either don’t hear it, or you turn it off because it’s like listening to Pig Latin… just an annoying affectation after awhile.

Random Guy, i think you would have a shot at being a true acerbic wit, if you challenged yourself to leave behind the crutch of conventional profanity!

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey

What’s better? –“frozen ham hocks” or “fucking frozen ham hocks” … I don’t find his language to be objectionable. And I don’t think it contains an uncalled for amount of, or use of, profanity. Nor do I think it “undermines his good points”. I think it’s more like it underlines them. I like what he says just the way he says it. Why can’t people except, and listen to, others’ linguistic expression the way it is, instead of always having to play the mother who wants to improve them, and to turn them into a “a true acerbic wit”? –ew.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago

Anne, i guess most people write on the internet to some extent to show others what they think, maybe even that their way of thinking is worthy of trying. You know, they write to influence people and events.

If not, why not just keep your thoughts to yourself? Go shout them into a hole in the ground, or subject only your family to your ravings. If indeed you are just blowing off steam and don’t give a fuck if anyone agrees with you, then go ahead and write any crazy stupid shit you want… you will probably be tolerated. If however you would like to be heard, you might consider that how you present things matters. And it’s not just language, it’s attitude… if i see a post by someone who is always angry and carries on personal vendettas to vent their hostilities, i can’t take their opinions very seriously… they’ve become inconsequential. To me.

Just sayin’. I know i sound like Barney playing Mother… but isn’t everyone who writes on here trying to improve something or someone? LIttle improvements like civil treatment of each other are maybe all i can get my little mind around.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey
tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

Just because a lot of energy is wasted on stupid things other than pot doesn’t mean we should ignore the plain fact that growing pot indoors also wastes a lot of energy.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

but you’ll ignore it if it’s not a blog topic. And in doing so, hopefully focus on worthwhile endeavors that don’t ujustly persecute people who are helping everybody get some good weed in the bigger picture. Humboldt isn’t known for marijuana growers hating on people who grow marijuana any particular way. It’s counter to everything you can learn with intelligent use of psychoactive plants.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Well, I’m not a marijuana grower, I’m not “hating on” anyone, and I’m not advocating “unjustly persecuting” anyone. And I don’t think Skippy is, either.

The bottom line is that growing pot indoors wastes a lot of electricity, and since it can be grown outdoors in the sun and soil, it would be better if more of it was grown that way. And for those who cannot grow it outdoors (city dwellers, for example), it would be better if they tried to reduce their energy use as much as possible. That is all.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

Just because a lot of energy is wasted on stupid things other than pot doesn’t mean we should ignore the plain fact that growing pot indoors also wastes a lot of energy.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

but you’ll ignore it if it’s not a blog topic. And in doing so, hopefully focus on worthwhile endeavors that don’t ujustly persecute people who are helping everybody get some good weed in the bigger picture. Humboldt isn’t known for marijuana growers hating on people who grow marijuana any particular way. It’s counter to everything you can learn with intelligent use of psychoactive plants.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Well, I’m not a marijuana grower, I’m not “hating on” anyone, and I’m not advocating “unjustly persecuting” anyone. And I don’t think Skippy is, either.

The bottom line is that growing pot indoors wastes a lot of electricity, and since it can be grown outdoors in the sun and soil, it would be better if more of it was grown that way. And for those who cannot grow it outdoors (city dwellers, for example), it would be better if they tried to reduce their energy use as much as possible. That is all.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago

Having an agenda is a good thing in my opinion. It means you care and are trying to do good.

Yeah sure it does, Like the serial killer with an agenda of crimes to commit.

Contrary or not, let’s put them all on the table!

That’s exactly what you are NOT doing.

What part is offensive, untrue, or spun?

All of it. But I’m not here to argue with you about it. Obviously your mind is made up anyway. I’m just saying that you present the issue from one side only. There’s no context. So for you to say that you are, Just putting the information out there… for folks to take or leave is where the deception comes in. You are tailoring your information to present a certain viewpoint from one side of the issue. So quit trying to pretend you are not.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago

Having an agenda is a good thing in my opinion. It means you care and are trying to do good.

Yeah sure it does, Like the serial killer with an agenda of crimes to commit.

Contrary or not, let’s put them all on the table!

That’s exactly what you are NOT doing.

What part is offensive, untrue, or spun?

All of it. But I’m not here to argue with you about it. Obviously your mind is made up anyway. I’m just saying that you present the issue from one side only. There’s no context. So for you to say that you are, Just putting the information out there… for folks to take or leave is where the deception comes in. You are tailoring your information to present a certain viewpoint from one side of the issue. So quit trying to pretend you are not.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

SO a couple hours south in mendo (as we call mendocino county in these parts), los federales are going to borrow some wealth and property of an outstanding good guy who grows, and even sells marijuana in all the right ways…and will likely continue to hassle him well into the future.

…Meanwhile a couple hours away in Humboldt County, instead of chanting “free the weed” like they used to, a new type of clique has formed among the insiders, and they’re tapping as many people as they can on the shoulder to also point at another clique and say “arrest them! don’t wish for us to be arrested, we’re cool and good, but they’re bad for everything and everybody!” Probably followed by something like “alright now I gotta drive to Target and buy new cellphone cases for the kids.”

…and like the constant bleating of anything, others bleat the same thing. This blog’s owner is sold on bleating for this new clique.

Grow plants inside if that’s what you want to do. If it’s great marijuana you want to grow, even better. If you can share, it might really improve somebody’s life. I’d rather anybody do that than work in insurance, or choose hunting as a hobby. If you love what you do, it begets. If you love the plants you grow, they beget. This whole anti-indoor campaign smells like money, not well grown marijuana.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Random Guy, i totally agree with you. Should i take the time to trot out my statistics, a la Pot Math, to show that indoor growing actually uses much less local water per pound produced than outdoor? It’s common sense… it doesn’t get blown away on the wind, doesn’t drain outside… i have recycled the nutrient-rich seep-through to rewater everything from vegetables to flowers to trees to more weed. As soon as people started ganging up to blame the new Bad Guy (indoor growers) for all the problems associated with weed growing, i felt defensive, being one of the scapegoats, and did the math on a 10-pound-per year outside grow vs. the same in 5 installments grown indoor…where i know exactly how much water is being used. No contest that the outdoor uses more.

Not to say it’s completely innocent… just saying that the Nail-’em-to-the-cross attitude, especially for drying up the rivers, is full of holes.

Which brings me to my own prejudice, which is that the destruction factor is mainly scale and greed. Generally i wouldn’t give a hoot how much anyone grows or makes, but when people grow 5-20 times what i grow, supposedly just for the basics for themselves and their families (basics including tropical vacations), then try to get down on someone just doing what they can do, as if all the blame lies with this one method… i do get riled.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

…“arrest them! don’t wish for us to be arrested, we’re cool and good, but they’re bad for everything and everybody!”

You seem to be think there is some “clique” of outdoor growers who are supposedly clamoring for indoor growers to be arrested, and that members of this “clique” are using the energy usage issue to advance that goal somehow. But as far as I can tell, this so-called “clique,” and that whole conspiratorial scenario, is entirely imaginary.

People are just pointing out that growing canabis indoors uses a whole lot of electricity, and that we could save a lot of energy by growing more of it outdoors, and/or by improving the efficiency of indoor grows. I just don’t see how that adds up to the kind of dark, conspiratorial scenario that you’ve got yourself so wound up about.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

I’m not wound up in it, but it is absolutely a conspirital scenario and a dark one at that. Making it one’s mission to talk shit about people who grow marijuana…plants…indoor. Focusing one’s attention on others to influence those others to focus their attention on indoor plant cultivaters as being people who are destroying the world for everybody. Bad juju unto those who jump on that bandwagon! They’re barking up the wrong tree at a horse that died with our right to freely enjoy nature’s gifts. Barking through machines of gross excess at that. The conspirators haven’t just casually mentioned their hate once or twice, but repeat it over and over and over on the internet, pay for regular advertising in local publications, pay to spread the hate every day on local radio, etc. The preachers above have sold out for free. They’re not marijuana advocates, or environmentally savvy protestors. They’re lopsided morons who take their lifestyle and location for granted.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Well said, Random. What’s funny is that so few people around here seem to have seen this… that the pointed fingers turned en masse, like a flock of those little birds, at indoor growers a couple of years ago. And all i could think was (well, first, that this was human nature, and most of the “conspirators” are not darkly evil, just good ol’ sheeple) — mainly, that it was odd that the word “indoor” was the key, when they were talking about huge greenhouse grows spilling diesel and sucking rivers dry. The key factor seemed clearly to be “huge”– but from the beginning of this campaign, people just went ahead growing bigger and bigger, as long as they could consider themselves innocent because they weren’t the evil (hushed tones:) “indoor growers.”

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey

‘zacly. Want a clean environent, say it! If you’re gonna point fingers, use your limited energies during your limited time on earth to point at the real enemies of health and freedom. Too easy to be disillusioned…time is priceless…the older I get, the more I am told and the more I see that focused energy really matters. I’ve been told several times on the internet that words, like fuck and shit, are to be used selectively so as to not misdirect my message. Go figure! Environmentally concerned marijuana advocates hating on marijuana growers are misdirecting their message. Preachers like skippy and kym don’t realize they’ve been duped into fueling the anti-marijuana war in the worst way, turning marijuana advocate against marijuana advocate. It’s the ultimate success for all things anti-cannabis. Rural living marijuana sympathizers…especially growers…are shooting themselves in both feet when they demonize their urban sympathizers…MOST of whom grow and/or consume marijuana in and from places where nobody has a yard let alone 40 acres and a mule. You know, society….paved landscapes where people live 100 to an acre and the ratio of infrastructure to open space is 1000/1. The fruits of progress…the new manifest destiny, creeping its way into Humboldt one freeway project and strip mall at a time.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Perhaps I need to offer more of an explanation of how we got here. Some feel there’s some dark conspiratorial work or agenda. There isn’t, even as much as we enjoy conspiracies.

After his findings garnered international attention, Dr. Mills gave his premiere presentation at HSU only recently. A timely subject having both relevance and merit, it wasn’t reported elsewhere except the Times-Standard news. SoHum residents find it difficult getting the newspaper. Kym and others can’t always geographically cover the news in NoHum. It really is as simple as that.

Redheaded Blackbelt has reported on Dr. Mills’ work previously. Reviewing most of the nation’s (pro) cannabis blogs for this article, comments were often of a favorable light towards his work.

Readers (and growers) can take this information and use it—or discard it, as they see fit. Choices and options are good; one needn’t feel threatened by it. I’m not a fan of censorship. Freeing the weed as much as freeing information for the people, I’m an advocate of Humboldt, our peeps, marijuana, and this blog.

Thank you to all who gave their piece, opinion, and consideration for a wider and lively discussion. Peace to you and yours.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  skippy

bullshitting…the fuckall of the internet. perhaps nobody’s doing anything except what you said they were doing but not what I say they’re doing even though somebody said they’re doing it like you said somebody done something that somebody else said somebody is doing something else about except somebody said somebody else said something else and everybody’s free to say it.

Pull your ass out of your mouth and have a nice day.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Some feel there’s some dark conspiratorial work or agenda. There isn’t

If skippy says so, it must be true, because skippy want’s to “free the weed”.

Preachers like skippy and kym don’t realize they’ve been duped into fueling the anti-marijuana war in the worst way,

So true.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

SO a couple hours south in mendo (as we call mendocino county in these parts), los federales are going to borrow some wealth and property of an outstanding good guy who grows, and even sells marijuana in all the right ways…and will likely continue to hassle him well into the future.

…Meanwhile a couple hours away in Humboldt County, instead of chanting “free the weed” like they used to, a new type of clique has formed among the insiders, and they’re tapping as many people as they can on the shoulder to also point at another clique and say “arrest them! don’t wish for us to be arrested, we’re cool and good, but they’re bad for everything and everybody!” Probably followed by something like “alright now I gotta drive to Target and buy new cellphone cases for the kids.”

…and like the constant bleating of anything, others bleat the same thing. This blog’s owner is sold on bleating for this new clique.

Grow plants inside if that’s what you want to do. If it’s great marijuana you want to grow, even better. If you can share, it might really improve somebody’s life. I’d rather anybody do that than work in insurance, or choose hunting as a hobby. If you love what you do, it begets. If you love the plants you grow, they beget. This whole anti-indoor campaign smells like money, not well grown marijuana.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Random Guy, i totally agree with you. Should i take the time to trot out my statistics, a la Pot Math, to show that indoor growing actually uses much less local water per pound produced than outdoor? It’s common sense… it doesn’t get blown away on the wind, doesn’t drain outside… i have recycled the nutrient-rich seep-through to rewater everything from vegetables to flowers to trees to more weed. As soon as people started ganging up to blame the new Bad Guy (indoor growers) for all the problems associated with weed growing, i felt defensive, being one of the scapegoats, and did the math on a 10-pound-per year outside grow vs. the same in 5 installments grown indoor…where i know exactly how much water is being used. No contest that the outdoor uses more.

Not to say it’s completely innocent… just saying that the Nail-’em-to-the-cross attitude, especially for drying up the rivers, is full of holes.

Which brings me to my own prejudice, which is that the destruction factor is mainly scale and greed. Generally i wouldn’t give a hoot how much anyone grows or makes, but when people grow 5-20 times what i grow, supposedly just for the basics for themselves and their families (basics including tropical vacations), then try to get down on someone just doing what they can do, as if all the blame lies with this one method… i do get riled.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

…“arrest them! don’t wish for us to be arrested, we’re cool and good, but they’re bad for everything and everybody!”

You seem to be think there is some “clique” of outdoor growers who are supposedly clamoring for indoor growers to be arrested, and that members of this “clique” are using the energy usage issue to advance that goal somehow. But as far as I can tell, this so-called “clique,” and that whole conspiratorial scenario, is entirely imaginary.

People are just pointing out that growing canabis indoors uses a whole lot of electricity, and that we could save a lot of energy by growing more of it outdoors, and/or by improving the efficiency of indoor grows. I just don’t see how that adds up to the kind of dark, conspiratorial scenario that you’ve got yourself so wound up about.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

I’m not wound up in it, but it is absolutely a conspirital scenario and a dark one at that. Making it one’s mission to talk shit about people who grow marijuana…plants…indoor. Focusing one’s attention on others to influence those others to focus their attention on indoor plant cultivaters as being people who are destroying the world for everybody. Bad juju unto those who jump on that bandwagon! They’re barking up the wrong tree at a horse that died with our right to freely enjoy nature’s gifts. Barking through machines of gross excess at that. The conspirators haven’t just casually mentioned their hate once or twice, but repeat it over and over and over on the internet, pay for regular advertising in local publications, pay to spread the hate every day on local radio, etc. The preachers above have sold out for free. They’re not marijuana advocates, or environmentally savvy protestors. They’re lopsided morons who take their lifestyle and location for granted.

Laura Cooskey
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Well said, Random. What’s funny is that so few people around here seem to have seen this… that the pointed fingers turned en masse, like a flock of those little birds, at indoor growers a couple of years ago. And all i could think was (well, first, that this was human nature, and most of the “conspirators” are not darkly evil, just good ol’ sheeple) — mainly, that it was odd that the word “indoor” was the key, when they were talking about huge greenhouse grows spilling diesel and sucking rivers dry. The key factor seemed clearly to be “huge”– but from the beginning of this campaign, people just went ahead growing bigger and bigger, as long as they could consider themselves innocent because they weren’t the evil (hushed tones:) “indoor growers.”

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey

‘zacly. Want a clean environent, say it! If you’re gonna point fingers, use your limited energies during your limited time on earth to point at the real enemies of health and freedom. Too easy to be disillusioned…time is priceless…the older I get, the more I am told and the more I see that focused energy really matters. I’ve been told several times on the internet that words, like fuck and shit, are to be used selectively so as to not misdirect my message. Go figure! Environmentally concerned marijuana advocates hating on marijuana growers are misdirecting their message. Preachers like skippy and kym don’t realize they’ve been duped into fueling the anti-marijuana war in the worst way, turning marijuana advocate against marijuana advocate. It’s the ultimate success for all things anti-cannabis. Rural living marijuana sympathizers…especially growers…are shooting themselves in both feet when they demonize their urban sympathizers…MOST of whom grow and/or consume marijuana in and from places where nobody has a yard let alone 40 acres and a mule. You know, society….paved landscapes where people live 100 to an acre and the ratio of infrastructure to open space is 1000/1. The fruits of progress…the new manifest destiny, creeping its way into Humboldt one freeway project and strip mall at a time.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Perhaps I need to offer more of an explanation of how we got here. Some feel there’s some dark conspiratorial work or agenda. There isn’t, even as much as we enjoy conspiracies.

After his findings garnered international attention, Dr. Mills gave his premiere presentation at HSU only recently. A timely subject having both relevance and merit, it wasn’t reported elsewhere except the Times-Standard news. SoHum residents find it difficult getting the newspaper. Kym and others can’t always geographically cover the news in NoHum. It really is as simple as that.

Redheaded Blackbelt has reported on Dr. Mills’ work previously. Reviewing most of the nation’s (pro) cannabis blogs for this article, comments were often of a favorable light towards his work.

Readers (and growers) can take this information and use it—or discard it, as they see fit. Choices and options are good; one needn’t feel threatened by it. I’m not a fan of censorship. Freeing the weed as much as freeing information for the people, I’m an advocate of Humboldt, our peeps, marijuana, and this blog.

Thank you to all who gave their piece, opinion, and consideration for a wider and lively discussion. Peace to you and yours.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago
Reply to  skippy

bullshitting…the fuckall of the internet. perhaps nobody’s doing anything except what you said they were doing but not what I say they’re doing even though somebody said they’re doing it like you said somebody done something that somebody else said somebody is doing something else about except somebody said somebody else said something else and everybody’s free to say it.

Pull your ass out of your mouth and have a nice day.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  random guy

Some feel there’s some dark conspiratorial work or agenda. There isn’t

If skippy says so, it must be true, because skippy want’s to “free the weed”.

Preachers like skippy and kym don’t realize they’ve been duped into fueling the anti-marijuana war in the worst way,

So true.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago
Reply to  Laura Cooskey

The key factor seemed clearly to be “huge”– but from the beginning of this campaign, people just went ahead growing bigger and bigger, as long as they could consider themselves innocent because they weren’t the evil (hushed tones:) “indoor growers.”

Even though we had lots of rain last winter, the river is lower than ever. There are certainly a lot of uncaring greedy outdoor growers who are growing HUGE crops and sucking the water table dry. Next year will be worse.

Staff
Member
12 years ago

I try, not always successfully, to point out what problems I feel are occurring in marijuana growing. I include outdoor growing as well as indoor. Talking about problems I see is not the same as advocating arrest.

Staff
Member
12 years ago

I try, not always successfully, to point out what problems I feel are occurring in marijuana growing. I include outdoor growing as well as indoor. Talking about problems I see is not the same as advocating arrest.