What IS this amazing product???
Good old Hemp.
Here are some facts about hemp:
- Body care products -- The critical importance of EFAs (essential fatty acids) for healthy skin makes hemp seed oil a highly effective skin care and cosmetic product. Its lipid constituents allow it to permeate through intact skin and thereby nourish skin cells directly. Consequently, these therapeutic properties have led to a multitude of soaps, shampoos, skin lotions, lip balms, conditioners, and other skin-care products containing hemp seed oil. For the hair, hemp oil improves shine, as well as being able to relieve a dry scalp.
- Building products -- The benefits of using hemp-based composites in construction materials rather than wood include better resistance to fire, fungi, rodents, termites, and other pests. This use would also stimulate local economies and improve agricultural sustainability. When properly retted and stacked, hemp can be stored for many years without significant deterioration, thereby allowing the producer to take advantage of fluctuating markets.
- Diapers -- Hemp makes the best diapers. Because they are reusable, they will not be added to landfills. Not only that, but they are also far more absorbent than cotton and just as soft.
- Fabrics -- Cotton is one of the most destructive crops in existence, using half the pesticides in agriculture. Even organic cotton requires extremely heavy irrigation. Hemp, on the other hand, can be grown organically and sustainably. It can also be made into attractive and stylish clothing. Hemp fibers are stronger than cotton and similar to linen or raw silk.
- Fewer wars -- Although this is a stretch, one can dream that there would be fewer wars, particularly ones that now start over non-renewable supremacy. Possibly, such wars as the Gulf War might never have happened.
- Fiberboard -- Hemp fiberboard is a viable alternative to the composite board made from processed wood chips and resins. Wood chip fiberboard is notoriously weak; but using the long bast fibers of hemp makes a much stronger product with a wider range of applications. It is also more fireproof and insect resistant. MDF (Medium Dense Fiber) is a cellulose composite made comparable to the strength found in trees. Hemp fiberboard has proven to be 250% stronger than wood MDF composite board and 300% more elastic. Therefore, it should not be necessary to take a 200 to 500 year-old tree to make a house that lasts only 50 years. Instead, hemp, which takes only about 100 to 150 DAYS to grow, can make the same house that lasts the same length of time.
- Fiberglass -- Just as hemp fiber can replace fiberglass in cars, boats, and ther vehicles, it also makes a perfect substitute for such other fiberglass materials as insulation. Hemp hurds, treated with a fire retardant, can then be blown into the space between walls and provide the needed protection without the lung or skin irritation associated with fiberglass insulation.
- Hempahol -- Corn is not the only plant that can be used to make ethanol; and per acre, hemp is a more prolific producer than corn. Unlike gasoline, ethanol does not produce any of the sulfur or other air pollution responsible for acid rain and various diseases.
- Housing - A company in France has patented a concrete substitute made by calcifying hemp stalks into a solid mass. The resulting material is called Isochanvre, as is the company name. Isochanvre is as strong as concrete but weighs only 1/7th as much. It is also more flexible and a much better insulator, making it better able to withstand natural disasters. The company has already built hundreds of these all-natural houses in Europe and was the first to do so in Canada. Such building materials would significantly lessen the impact of taking from the environment without replenishing it.
- Natural herbacide - While herbacides do keep weeds down, they also poison the ground with their chemical components. This eventually reaches into the food supply. Herbacides also produce mutants which become stronger and more resistant to chemicals. Capable of growing six feet in two weeks, thickly sown hemp crops simply choke out weeds, cutting them off from sunlight and nutrients. Rotating hemp crops will keep the soil in prime shape for whatever cash crop is to follow.
- No oil spills -- This point is so obvious that it is often overlooked – hemp does not cause oil spills. Consequently, no wildlife can be harmed or ecosystems destroyed.
- Paper – The world’s first source of paper was made from hemp; and 2000-year old pieces of hemp paper have stood the test of time, a feat far beyond the capabilities of wood pulp paper. If wood pulp had been the source of paper, we likely would not have the recorded history. Until the development of acid-free paper, wood pulp paper disintegrated in just over a century. Hemp paper is stronger than wood pulp paper, naturally pliable, and partially water-resistant. Half of the trees cut down today are used to make paper – which ultimately ends up in landfills a short time later.
- Plastic – Because plastic is made from non-renewable resources, searching for an alternative is crucial and began in earnest in the 1970s when an oil crises drove up the price of petrochemicals – a practice that has been retained to this day. As governments struggle to find ways to reduce global warming and consumers continue to demand alternatives, the hemp plant is becoming an increasingly valuable alternative to the petro-chemical based industries, which are high energy users and contribute greatly to rising CO2 levels. Renewable bio-resource based products are low-energy consumers and CO2-neutral. Hemp fibers are tough and durable, and adding them enables the reduction of the amount of plastic required without loss of performance. (See more at Hemp Plastic.)
- Prevent erosion – The following is but one example where hemp could help to hold topsoil in place. Massive deforestation on the slopes of the Himalayas (hemp’s original home) is rapidly turning the area into a barren moonscape. Forested areas that previously lost only 0.3 tons of soil per hectare each year now lose as much as 90 tons in the same space after being clearcut. At that rate, nothing more than rock will remain. The soil washes downstream, clogging rivers and killing aquatic life, eventually sweeping into the sea by the Ganges and other rivers. Former vice-president Al Gore said, “These mountain lands, which boast some of the most spectacular natural beauty on earth, are now being devastated to briefly quench the needs of a single generation.” Hemp grows abundantly in the Himalayas, if given the chance, and could cover these scarred areas, holding topsoil while providing an income for the region’s people.
- Shower curtains -- One of the many plastic products that release toxic gasses when heated is the shower curtain -- and shower curtains tend to be heated a lot. Rather than being trapped in a small confined space and gassed by shower curtains, home-owners are now able to buy attractive, long-lasting, naturally mildew-resistant shower curtains made from hemp.
- Soap – Making soap is a relatively simple process using a fat (acid) and some ash (alkali) to neutralise the fatty acids in the fat, which forms a soap. Here is a site that shows you how to make hemp soap: GoPlanet Earth.
