Natural American Spirit, owned by Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, is a brand name of organically and naturally grown cigarettes. The company is different from other cigarette producers in that it does not use any of the 690+ chemicals to cure their tobacco, and in that it also has a line of cigarettes made with USDA certified-organic tobacco. Since Natural American Spirit tobacco is "100% Additive-Free," and since the Maroon and Gold brands are made with organic tobacco grown without the aid of pesticides, this cigarette brand makes for a much easier Life Cycle Analysis than all other brands would.
As said before, the Maroon and Gold brands are made with USDA-certified organic tobacco and are 100% additive-free. To trace exactly where this tobacco comes from, however, would be almost impossible; though all of Natural American Spirit's tobacco is grown in the U.S., their product comes from all independent farmers. The Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company is committed to sustainable growing practices (or at least the extent to which tobacco farming can be sustainable) and reducing the tobacco industry's carbon footprint as a whole; this includes seeking out contracts with USDA-certified organic, independent U.S. farmers.
So, for this one component (material production: tobacco) of my LCA on Natural American Spirit cigarettes, I would say that the practices used to grow these materials are relatively sustainable and have a relatively low impact on the earth; as for the practices used to harvest and transport the materials, though, I cannot say. I am assuming, though, that the transportation emissions associated with this product are lower than what they would be if the tobacco was grown outside of the U.S.
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