âSustainabilityâ has become a word as commonly thrown around as ânaturalâ and âorganic.â Its implications are pretty great (and ânon-sustainably produced cannabisâ sounds really terrible), but what does it mean, really? Eco Firma could be considered a sustainability OG, being the first cannabis producer in Oregon to be powered by wind energy credits, getting Gold Certification through PGEâs Green Mountain Energy program, and using LED grow lights. Theyâre installing solar this summer, and their mission statement includes a desire to to be Oregonâs first carbon-neutral cannabis farm.
To illustrate, I ask Peters about the bioswale at Eco Firmaâs facility, which allows them to divert and filter water runoff from plant feedings, preventing it from entering the water table via creeks, ground, or septic and sewage systems.
âHonestly, it wasnât some grand plan. I just assumed I would not be allowed to just let my runoff go anywhere,â Peters says. âI thought I had to address it, so we designed the facility to do that. Turns out, it was never a requirement. We did it anyway because it seemed like the right thing to do. It really wasnât very expensive, all things considered, but it does require one to be in agricultural land and have the space to do itânot very easy in the city.
âItâs about being sustainable as a company, so everyone we employ still has a job tomorrow,â he continues. âThey can buy a house, and feel secure they can keep paying the mortgage. Thatâs sustainability, and everything we do for our practices as a company has led to us being able to produce at such a low cost per pound. The steps we have made to be environmentally sustainable have also made us financially sustainable. One has to be sustainable as a company to survive in what has become such a brutal market.â
The low cost per pound Peters is talking about is indeed quite low. It costs Eco Firma $189 to produce one pound of cannabis. (That comes out to $11.81 per ounce, or $0.43 per gram.) Those numbers arenât a secret, as part of the âgoing publicâ process required that they âshow what we grow forâ in their filing audit.
âKeep in mind, that number does not include trimming, advertising, expansion, marketing, construction, or social media,â says Peters. âJust plants.â
I ask if production costs can be reduced further, and to what end cutting some corners might help.
âReally, there are two ways to cut corners here, and this goes back to my âsustainable as a companyâ thing,â he says. âWe pay extra for our wind power, so we could shave that number down if we went back to straight dirty electricity, or, we could put 248,000 watts of solar on the roof, and cut back our power bill even more.â
âEverything we have done has had higher upfront costs, but has paid itself back in production costs,â Peters tells me. âThey all compounded on each other, and that was something we didnât expect, but once all the systems started working together, everything changed and we became exponentially more efficient.â
I ask Peters just how he thinks production costs can drop, because $189 a pound for indoor-grown cannabis is the lowest price I have ever heard.
âWe also have some other plans that I believe will push us down even further,â he says. âOur goal is to get below $100 per pound.â
For reference, a $100 pound of cannabis works out to $6.25 an ounce, not much more than a venti coffee drink with tip. Further broken down, that equates 22 cents per gram, albeit before the additional post-harvest costs Peters mentions. Thatâs a price point that, while great for consumers, could also allow for industry progress, potentially permitting for experimentation with strain genetics, growing techniques, and the processing of flower to make products such as cartridges and concentrates.
âIt will not be easy, but I believe we can do it,â Peters says.