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What would the world think of a natural solution to help make construction, textiles, paper products more sustainable? Sounds great, except that the solution is much frowned upon by society. Hemp is one of the earliest domesticated plants, and for good reason. My way of fixing the sustainability problems that loom before us is by legalizing hemp. Hemp is a resource that has been, for the most part, untapped in the modern era yet contains a plethora of uses that can help us live a more sustainable lifestyle (1).

The hemp seed is the richest source of fatty acids, comes second to soybeans in protein content and is also high in fibre and B-vitamins (2). This in itself doesn’t help us “Go Fix it” but growing it in place of other plants does. Hemp is very easy to grow organically. Unlike many plants, including cotton and soybean, hemp can easily be grown organically. According to the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) only eight of the approximately 100 known pests will affect the growth of the hemp plant (3). This means that it is often grown without pest-, fungi- or herbicides. On top of this due to the rapid growth of its leafs’ canopy it is a natural weed suppressor.

Not only can Hemp replace some of the more polluting plants that we eat but it can also be used as a more environmentally friendly form of paper. On a sustainable basis hemp can produce more pulp per area than trees can. Because hemp contains very little lignin compared to trees it does not require as many acids in the pulping process (3). This leads to less water contamination in the surrounding areas. Not only is the process for making the paper more sustainable, but the paper itself is as well. Due to its longer fibres it can be recycled more often than normal paper (4). It is also known to last longer due to its ability to resist decomposition. Because of this resistance to decomposition as well as its strength is also a good substitute for construction materials.

According to Washington State University hemp can be made into fiberboard, this new fiberboard is both lighter than normal fiberboard and twice as strong. Mixing hemp material with lime is the main way of making construction materials with hemp. When mixed with lime it creates a chemical reaction which is similar to fossilization. Hemp has been used in France for construction replacing concrete, drywall and insulation. These hemp based building materials are either mixed with existing building materials (like polypropylene ) or made with all natural materials, depending on what they are to be used for (5). Although these are all great reasons for why legalizing hemp would make the planet a more sustainable place I find that this last example has the largest positive impact on our environment.

Recently is has been found that hemp can replace plastic in some uses. Although using 100% hemp plastic would not be conceivable in all situations it is a great replacement for plastic in items such as CD cases or guitars (6). In fact Mada Guitars, a Austrian company created a semi-acoustic guitar from pure hemp.(7)

It is important to note that although the hemp plant is related to the marijuana plant, they are not one and the same. The marijuana and the hemp plant both contain the psychoactive chemical THC, but while the marijuana plant contains anywhere from 6-20% of it, hemp plants contain about 0.3% (8). THC is located in the leaves of the plant and therefore is totally lacking from the seeds as well as from the stems of the plant from which most of the paper, textile, and building materials come from.

Much of the opposition to the legalization of hemp stems from its relation to marijuana, once we are able to see these two plants separately with different uses I believe that there will be less opposition by both the government as well as by the populace. It is also important that law enforcement officials understand that marijuana cannot be well hidden in hemp fields due to the different growing conditions and harvest times (9). We also have to take the industries that will be affected by this into consideration. Many industries will be negatively affected by the legalization of hemp, but it is important to remember that they will not be totally replaced. Although it will have a negative impact on some industries I feel that we do not need to fear this change due to the positive that will come from it. More jobs will be created in more sustainable areas, not only in the production and selling of the product but also in research towards new uses for hemp. Although I did address quite a few uses for hemp, there are plenty more that I was unable to. These include hemp oil, animal bedding, livestock feed, body care products, medicine and nutritional supplements, biofuel, as well as ropes and textiles (1).

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