A new report by Dr. Evan Mills, an energy analyst and a staff scientist for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the  University of California, states that marijuana growing uses 1% of the energy usage of the United States per year. The study says,

“[A] single Cannabis cigarette represents 2 pounds of CO2 emissions, an amount equal to running a 100-watt light bulb for 17 hours with average U.S. electricity (or 30 hours on California’s cleaner grid).”

The study also asserts,

…indoor Cannabis production results in energy expenditures of $5 billion each year, with electricity use equivalent to that of 2 million average U.S. homes. This corresponds to 1% of national electricity consumption or 2% of that in households. The yearly greenhouse-gas pollution (carbon dioxide, CO2 ) from the electricity plus associated transportation fuels equals that of 3 million cars.

According to the piece, growing outdoors, on the other hand has almost none of the excessive energy costs of indoor grows—only transportation creates a major energy draw. Treehugger.com, an environmental site, asks if

it wouldn’t be surprising if one day soon we’re hearing about buying only sustainably grown marijuana in the same way we should only buy sustainably grown coffee or beef.

Hey, Treehugger, you should introduce your cannabis smoking friends to Humboldt’s own THC—it already markets to the environmentally savvy marijuana smoker. As the Tea House  Collective says,

Our cannabis is grown naturally and slowly in the sun, with a loving, conscious attention to our environment. It is never artificially manufactured in warehouses….

Sustainable cannabis is grown outdoors, strictly avoiding energy intensive, high carbon footprint methods. We care about the health of Humboldt’s precious watersheds, and avoid fertilization techniques that affect ground and stream water, and conserve every drop we can for salmon and wildlife.

Humboldt is internationally famous for breeding and cultivating the finest herbal medicine in the world. Expert 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’, we are proud to say our growers represent the best of Humboldt’s long history of both cannabis and environmental activism.