How Hemp Can Save The Planet- Caroline Brown


How Hemp Can Save The Planet- Caroline Brown
       On December 20, 2018 The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 became a National law. This law made hemp an agricultural commodity and made it easier for farmers to produce and sell hemp products with the government's approval, and in some cases, the government's help. This is big news, especially since Hemp has been used as everyday products as early as 8000 BC. It became illegal in the US in 1970 because of new national regulations and became an experimental drug in the early 21st century. 
         But how does this plant help the planet? To start, paper can be made out of hemp. It only takes 4 months for hemp to fully mature, which is very little time compared to trees, which take many years to reach maturity. Not only that, but one acre of hemp produces the same amount of paper as 4 acres of trees! It takes much less space and much less time to have the same product from hemp and trees. 
       Secondly, hemp can produce environmentally friendly plastic! Plastic is used to ship, store, and build so many things that a large amount of our population can’t imagine life without it. The bad thing is that it takes quite a long time for it to return to the soil, and less than half of plastic is recycled. Comparatively, the fiber in hemp can make similar “plastic” products with almost the same capabilities, it is 2.5 times stronger, and its biodegradable. 
       With populations rising, not everyone is getting the nutrition they need, especially in countries that are still developing. Hemp can help to solve this problem. I(*restatement of interest. )t is inexpensive to grow, takes little land, and hemp seeds are surprisingly very nutritious. In addition, hemp can be used to make flour and oil, it can be eaten raw, and hemp is very high in oils that promote brain function. Not only that, but hemp is naturally resistant to pests and therefore needs no pesticides to grow. 
           Hemp can also be used to make hempcrete, which is concrete made from hemp(obviously), lime, and water, but it is lighter and stronger. Hemcrete has been discovered at old buildings, and is proven to last for a very long time, and be more environmentally friendly. Even after it is made, it still converts co2 to oxygen as hempcrete! It has better insulation as well and it costs less to make. 
      One of the most interesting things is that hemp can be used to make fuel. Hemp seeds are pressed to make biodiesel fuel, and fermented hemp can be used as ethanol/methanol. It is the only alternative fuel that can run in any unmodified Diesel engine, which is so cool! 
       There are many other ways that hemp can be used. It can replace cotton, trees, concrete, and even fuel! What other plants do you know that can be used in so many different ways? Would you consider buying things made from hemp instead of plastic, trees, or cotton? Do you support these old practices coming back? What is something new that surprised you and made you want to find out more?



Comments

Anonymous said…
I had no idea of Hemp’s use! I’m admittedly not very knowledgeable in replacements for trees, but this is really interesting. I don’t know of any other replacements. Hemp sounds like an extremely useful replacement tool that needs to be taken advantage of in any regard. We all need to think of ways to lower overall use by any means necessary.
September 19, 2019 at 1:21 PM
Anonymous said…
The fact that we have neglected to make this a larger industry shocks me, given all of the applications for it. As we can accomplish so much with this agricultural product, it would be well worth considering the promotion of its growth and sale, and we definitely need to begin using it as a substitute for many, if not all, of the products that it can be designated to replace. If it’s cheaper and more sustainable to grow and use, what steps do we need to take to implement it more into our society? If we could safely, and successfully, implement these products into our daily use, our environment and society would be able to cut our plastic use and CO2 pollution significantly.
September 20, 2019 at 10:56 AM
Anonymous said…
It’s actually incredible that all these benefits of hemp have been overlooked for so long. I think this information should be more widespread and it should be a lot easier for farmers to grow hemp. Our planet is struggling with so much plastic being produced that isn’t biodegradable, and any alternative options (such as hemp plastic) should be focused on immediately.
September 22, 2019 at 10:06 AM
Anonymous said…
I had no idea that hemp was such a versatile plant. Its ability to be a sustainable alternative source of everything is cool. I think there are many old practices including this that should come back, not as a trend, but as a real solution to some problems. Even though hemp has merits to be a great material, it will take a lot of education and information to change the minds of the consumers, government and other corporations. I am excited to see what happens to this mysterious crop in the future.
September 22, 2019 at 2:46 PM
Anonymous said…
The fact that hemp can be an alternative source for paper, plastic, and many other things is something that came as quite a shock to me. If we could switch to hemp based paper, we would be able to solve so many of the worlds problems, mostly those that come from the paper industry. If hemp can have a larger quantity of paper made from the same land acreage as trees, then we would be able to reduce the amount of land we use and farm off of for one industry as well as reduce the amount of carbon released from harvesting.

-Ava
September 22, 2019 at 7:08 PM
Anonymous said…
It is amazing how Hemp can be used in so many different ways. Maybe we should convert to using Hemp if it saves money and reduced the landfills. Another plant that is multipurposed like Hemp is Lavender. Lavender is an edible plant most of the population put in tea, coffee, or even desserts. It is also used as an essential oil to help one relax and relieve tension, treat anxiety, insomnia, depression and restlessness. Lavender is also an amazing mosquito repellent. Using plants like Hemp and Lavender would help our economy because we aren't using harmful chemicals like those in mosquito repellent or cutting down as many trees when we can just use Hemp to make paper.
September 23, 2019 at 6:19 PM
Anonymous said…
I had no idea hemp even existed! Honestly its so surprising how something so uncommon can help the world so much. We should definitely switch to hemp based papers! I didnt know there was an alternative for a different kind of paper. If hemp is used trees wont be cut down and species have a better chance of living. This needs to be known to many, this is a replacement that could
do so much!”
September 23, 2019 at 8:41 PM
Anonymous said…
I was completely unaware that a mere change in plant type could make such a drastic difference. 4acres of trees vs 1acre of hemp is astounding number six in which we should definitely convert too. Not only would this help reduce deforestation in many areas. I think our society should rapidly spread this news throughout social media to engage in topic of greater discussion and push a large movement towards shifting towards this plant as soon as possible.
September 23, 2019 at 9:18 PM
Anonymous said…
What confuses me is why did hemp have to be outlawed in the first place? Yes, drugs are bad, but there are so many harmful drugs that can be made from plants that are legal. Something that really surprised me was how hempcrete can still convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. I can’t wrap my mind around how that works! Does that mean that the hemp is still alive while it is made into concrete? I think that is a really, really amazing feature of hemp.
September 24, 2019 at 12:07 PM
Anonymous said…
Before this blog post, I had never even heard of hemp. I think hemp should be more commonly used because of how beneficial it is to us and the environment. I would buy items that are made of hemp instead of plastic. Hemp coming back is a great thing, and the use of the plant will have many positive outcomes. I found this entire post interesting because I did not know any of this information. What I am wondering is why we have not made the switch, and why it has taken us so long to realize the advantages of hemp.
September 24, 2019 at 3:58 PM
Unknown said…
I'd only ever heard of hemp as some random plant before. The fact that it is so versatile is surprising, but what's more surprising is why people don't switch to it now that we know so many things could be replaced with better material made of hemp.
September 24, 2019 at 5:20 PM
Anonymous said…
It's quite shocking how such a versatile and environmentally friendly material is almost unknown of, but now that I know about such a material, I definitely will support the usage of it and will encourage others to do so as well, because if we can eliminate the usage of other, less environmentally friendly things from our everyday life, our planet will benefit greatly. However, the fact that Hemp was banned previously does concern me, as there may have been a reason as to why it was banned in the first place, but as of now, it looks like the world would only benefit from the usage of Hemp.
September 24, 2019 at 6:45 PM
Urvi Vallapareddy said…
It is surprising seeing how multi-purposeful hemp is. Since it is able to be used in so many ways, I think it should become a larger known fact. With new and unique methods to replace wasteful items, we can definitely see a divergence from our wasteful practices. Replacing single use plastics naturally is ideal, and hemp can be a new leader for creating that change. Urvi Vallapareddy
September 25, 2019 at 2:40 PM
Anonymous said…
To be honest I have never even heard of hemp until I read this blog post. And now that I know what it is and see the benefits of having it, I totally support the idea of bringing it back and using it as a way to make resources. This is a more effective way since it is versatile and it could positively benefit our world
September 25, 2019 at 5:14 PM
Anonymous said…
I’m so surprised that hemp is so useful in so many ways! I had no idea! This plant should totally be put to use to its full potential. We could solve a lot of issues and concerns with this single small plant. I’m confused as to why it was banned in the first place? It seams pretty awesome. We should try to make this more public knowledge because I for one didn’t know about all these benefits to this plant. What if this is the answer? Is it too good to be true?
-camilla
September 30, 2019 at 1:22 PM
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