Aquaponics sounds way more complicated than sticking plants in a pot of soil and watering them, and it definitely is. So why do it this way? Lots of reasons, but mainly: the environment.  

Fertilizer

Most large-scale corporate cannabis companies (and industrial farms in general) rely on synthetic fertilizers. These fertilizers are resource-intensive to produce, often mined or manufactured in factories. This process, whether for cannabis or food crops, is wasteful. It pollutes the air, soil, and water, and is only really used for one reason: it's cheap.

Our approach with aquaponics, on the other hand, mainly uses one fertilizer: fish feed. Fish feed is generally made from byproducts from the fishing industry, meaning we simply use leftovers to feed our fish and plants.

Dirt

Actually... no dirt. Like hydroponics, aquaponics does not require soil. Our plants are suspended by their stems in a body of water and fish shit. This matters more than you'd think for the environment. 

Tilling, disturbing, or harvesting topsoil releases an insane amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We figure let's leave the topsoil alone and keep that carbon in the ground where it belongs. There's enough of it in the air already. 

Water

Even in Minnesota, where fresh water is everywhere, conservation matters. Done properly, aquaponics can use up to 99% less water than traditional agriculture. How?

When you grow plants directly in water instead of a field, there's no runoff from irrigation. That also means no fertilizer or pesticide runoff into the lakes. The water in the system is also constantly reused. The fish fertilize the water, the plants clean the water, and that same water returns to the fish.

Our facility captures the rain that falls on its roof and the water that comes out of the dehumidifiers and air conditioners. We filter and sterilize it and use it to grow, wash hands, etc. We don't even have a well.

Fish are cool!

Siebe, co-owner, is extremely passionate about fishkeeping. He cares deeply about the wellbeing of fish, their environment, water parameters, etc. He's designed and built many aquariums and ponds, mostly with small tropical fish. Bringing fish into our system wasn't just for sustainability, it's also a passion.

Another kicker? If you eat meat, fish are one of the most sustainable animal proteins out there. Think of a cow: it has to stand up and walk around all day long, holding up its own weight (hundreds of pounds), farting and burping methane, eating food crops that took up land, water, and fertilizer to grow... it's a lot of work and a lot of resources for relatively not much meat. All of that activity on a large scale is terrible for air pollution, land use, deforestation, water use, and so much more.

Fish, on the other hand, kinda just float there. They eat a chunk of food every now and again and swim around a bit, but they exert very little energy for the amount of meat they put on.

Fish tacos, anyone?