There is a growing concern about disposable Vape Cartridge waste and Big Karma, Mosaic’s retail sister brand, has joined a movement to raise awareness and jumpstart efforts to abate the pending environmental crises. Please check out the following link for more information on how to get involved in our program Carts For The Arts! We have linked up with several non-profit entities as well as vape hardware manufacturers and policy influencers to launch a platform centered around innovative sustainability solutions. Thanks for reading. Your support is crucial to make a change in the industry standards and legislation.
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Yep. That’s my primary problem with disposable anything. WTF throw a perfectly good cart away?
Make it reusable, or at least recyclable!
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That aint how the chinese work tho
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I used to work for a distribution company in the Bay that sold disposal vape pens that were advertised as recyclable.
I would provide dispensaries with recycling containers with intentions of customers bringing the product back to be recycled (this was a key selling point to buyers). I was instructed by the company that the act of taking the recycling container and recycling the items was not my responsibility (I found this strange). I never wanted to tell a dispensary no, so I took the liberty to bring the containers to the recycling plant on my own time…
They told me that the devices were far from recyclable and told me to stop spreading misinformation about cartridges and disposable vape pens being recycled.
Ever since I’ve been weary of carts and vape pens that claim to be recyclable. Glad those days are over…
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@chakrakahn That’s exactly we’re raising awareness about this issue and hopefully discovering a more sustainable solution!
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The fuckin packaging bums me out A LOT. So much plastic! My boxes are made of biodegradable Kraft paper, the tips are wood (biodegradable, but would take forever) and glass and metal and “refillable” (but maybe 2% of customers do that at best). Meant to be as conscious as possible, but still much worse than a good ole bag o weed. I agree 100% that the cannabis industry is a guiding torch for change and should show a different standard in regards to all of this. Way to go @Mosaic_Co-Labs for being a part of the change! I’ll throw down bout twofiddy. Great post.
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Oh my god yes. I remember one day while managing a small lab and my boss came to me and said how disposable pens were so much better because the margins were better on them and how he wanted start filling a bunch of them. That was about the day I started planning my exit. It wasn’t the only issue but I definitely did not want to be contributing to that.
I know the extraction industry in general can be pretty wasteful with resources but come on man. Disposable batteries are just too egregious for me. We can definitely do better.
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Thank you for caring about this.
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Hey there @shira so glad you have joined the Future4200 community! This is the “Forum” I’m always referencing 
Please enlighten us all on your discoveries, challenges and intentions for this issue of disposable cartridge waste!
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The issue isn’t the manufacturers. The issue is the markets. People are afraid of buying a new brand of cart that might not work with their battery. Or they refuse to buy a new battery. A lot of customers ONLY will use disposables because they “like having it all ready to go out of the door”. They don’t want to have to “keep track” of what battery is what or “if it’s charged.” So this gives such a huge incentive to brands to offer disposables because the recreational customers insist on them. It’s [unfortunately] the American way.
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It is important to reach out and educate the consumer. Sadly many who work at dispensaries think it is totally normal and okay to throw the ion battery disposable into the trash. We are holding a panel discussion on the topic with various directors of every touchpoint from cradle to grave on these products for a positive and productive conversation with some action items. Plus you get to see cool art made out of cartridges 
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@shira has been a large part of several inspirational projects including one she founded called UpCycle Pop. These entities and many other innovative startups all share The Atrium916 in Sacramento where Mosaic Co-Lab has business offices. We are fortunate to have stumbled upon such awesome people
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Aw shucks - thanks. Hope you can make it - for sure to be a fun event.
And glow sticks latex/nitrile gloves along with all bottled and bagged nutrients. Good luck. If enough people actually cared and Did something instead of talking and posting to social media shit would have gotten done. Tell the 625 billionaires we have in this country
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Welcome to America, the most wasteful society, per capita, on Earth. I see it in my company every day. We put tens of thousands of these disposable units out on the market every week because “profit margins are wide.” I was hoping the market would sort itself out and costumers would reject this selfish practice but I think people just find it too damn convenient and are blinded by the “lower price” of these units. My company fills disposables in 0.25g units, so the costumer has a perceived sense of saving money in comparison to the .5 and 1g carts available.
Just saving money buying .25 at $35 instead of .5 at $45… America, short term saving for long term loss.
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The “story of stuff” is worth spending 10 mins on. Little animated movie about the ills of disposable products or those made for obsolescence.
K cups are also a decent precedent, in which the inventor has been made aware of the environmental consequences and wished he had let the idea go.
There huge room to make a difference in this industry, and its young enough to avoid some of the longer term consequences if acted upon now.
A collective of producers “doing the right thing” could make a difference as well as have a unique place within the market.
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At the verrrryyyy least people could make a bin at their dispensary for folks to throw their disposables into, which could then be dropped off at an electronic recycling plant. Batteries are not supposed to be thrown into the garbage, that’s ridiculously bad for the environment and very unnecessary
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That’s exactly what were aiming for with the batteries at least. The biggest hurdle in California is the designation of cannabis hardware as hazardous waste.
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Dispensary’s should start a program for customers who buy carts. That offers discounts to those who bring back empty carts for their next purchase. Idk 2cents 
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For those that are interested check out the coverage we received for the Carts For The Arts program that launched during the Upcycle Pop holiday market. We made the California Cannabis Manufacturer’s Association daily newsletter and were featured on the front page of Cannabis Business Times!
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