Worms have been used to catch a fish or create compost for a garden, and now will be used for a new type of work - disposing of medical marijuana.
Darrel Armer with Oklahoma Green to Gold in Meeker has partnered with Shawn Cowen, with Greenleaf Recycle of Oklahoma in Muldrow, to start worming their way into the cannabis disposal business.
“It’s a green way of disposing this stuff,” Armer said.
With the help of Red Wigglers, Armer and Cowen plan on using these worms to dispose of cannabis waste and use their castings, also known as poop, to create a super soil to sell.
Cowen said they chose the Red Wigglers because they can grow up to four inches long and eat their body weight in food.
Armer said the diet of their new workers must be 30 percent nitrogen and 70 percent carbon.
Currently, Cowen and Armer are waiting to receive their Solid Waste Permit from the Department of Environmental Quality for the Oklahoma Green to Gold location.
Armer and Cowen turned in the 67-plus page application to the department in early February and hope to receive the permit by the end of the summer.
With that in hand, they will apply for a license through the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to be able to handle the medical marijuana waste.
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Waste Management Act describes marijuana waste as marijuana that was out-of-date, unused, returned or surplus and plant debris.
At the Meeker location, the process to get started began in late September with the purchase of the land.
With this type of business, they had to be sure the land wasn’t on a wetland, on Indian land, on land with any endangered species and much more.
Cowen said by the time the dusts settles they will have invested around $400,000 into this business.
Armer said they will spend $100,000 on worms alone.