With all the excitement surrounding cannabis legalization, it’s easy to lose sight of legalizations main purpose – to improve the lives of people in our communities. In this budding industry, Licensed Producers are the front line and thus must operate in an environmentally friendly way, minimize waste and benefit their community. LPs generally have a large footprint in their communities making it even more important to behave responsibly with an eye to keeping communities involved.
Licensed Producer Indiva knows this better than most and is always ready to do what is necessary to act responsibly. Over the past year, Indiva has been expanding its London, ON production facility, and has recently partnered with local initiative The Streetlight E-Recycle Program (Streetlight) to ensure any waste created from the company’s facility expansion is removed properly and safely.
The Streetlight program is dedicated to creating meaningful employment opportunities for at-risk youth in local communities. The program puts kids to work collecting any electronic, scrap and precious metal waste from worksites like Indiva’s facility expansion. Streetlight maintains a staff of dedicated volunteers and outreach workers who operate a Mobile Youth Center in London. At-risk youth are given a trustworthy place to turn for food, support and friendship – items that are often missing in their daily lives and are necessary for a sense of community and self worth.
Justin Dimoff, director of the Streetlight program says that, “Each community pickup provides a chance for a youth with employment barriers to work and be paid for their time at a livable wage. Beyond monetary value, these picks ups also create the opportunity for youth to be mentored and encouraged in their journey.”
Recently, Streetlight completed its second pickup at the Indiva facility, collecting four trailer loads of scrap material. Thanks to local business, John Zubick Scrap Metals Inc., those materials were turned into more than $1200 which will be used to benefit at-risk youth in the community. Streetlight will continue to visit the Indiva facility expansion for collections until the project is completed early next year.
“There are a lot of positives to contributing to the Streetlight program. Participation in this initiative not only allows us to reroute waste from our landfills but also has a positive impact on the lives of those living in our community,” says Health and Community Engagement Leader Courtney Morgan.
Indiva keeps its clients, community and environment at the heart of all its business practices. Indiva’s facilities in London, ON feature state-of-the-art environmental controls that minimize wasted heat and energy demands. The company also employs a revolutionary Bioroter Compost Digester that ensures the company’s plant waste material is denatured and processed into valuable compost that can then be donated to local farmers in the community.
Streetlight provides another win-win opportunity for local business like Indiva because it provides an environmentally friendly means of waste removal with the added benefit of helping within the local community. Efforts like this program are a great way for Licensed Producers to stay committed to elevating their communities while minimizing their environmental impact.
