Want to win a prize? Tell me about hemp…
Hemp fabric is one of those things that’s associated with tie-dye and hippies, because it’s known to be eco-friendly but people rarely see it used well. Which is a shame, because as well as being useful and eco-friendly, it can be made into things just as beautiful as we see made with water-guzzling, pesticide-laden cotton.
Although you can grow cotton organically, which is great, it does take a lot of work. Hemp is naturally ahead of the game:
- the plants grow too close together to allow for weeds, so no herbicide needed;
- insects prefer other crops so it needs fewer pesticides;
- and it doesn’t need nearly as much water to grow (which is great for Australia).
Hemp producers can go organic without much extra effort at all.
I’ll admit that I hadn’t paid much attention to it until I saw a beautiful range of hemp purses online. Anne from Sir Tom uses hemp as one of the materials in her work, and she’s showing all those hippies how it’s supposed to be done! I spent quite a while looking at her Etsy store, and was very pleased when she agreed to help me out with a little competition here on my blog.
Anne is giving away a hemp purse from her store to the Go Greener reader who can tell us the most interesting or fun fact about hemp – environmental, historical, scientific, etc – in the comments of this post. If you’re not interested in using a purse yourself (hello, gentlemen!) you might like to enter and win a gift for your partner or a friend.
You have 3 days to leave your comment here, although I suggest doing it now and then telling your friends. On Friday night at 8pm Perth time (so 10pm for you east-coasters) I’ll pick a winner from the commenters, and be in touch with you about receiving your prize.
Hopefully you will be the lucky winner of a very stylish purse, and when people give you compliments on it, you can thank them and tell them how eco-friendly it is too.
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Hemp is so strong it’s used to make textiles, paper and biodegradable plastics. It’s environmentally sound because it doesn’t need a lot of water to grow. The seeds are a bit like sesame seeds — very good for you and can be ground for hemp milk, which makes a delicious ice-cream. Oh! and I think my neighbour grows it too.
There’s a hemp clothing shop in Fremantle which has posted in its window a long list of interesting facts about hemp. I was just there on Monday reading the list while I was waiting for someone, but I can’t remember any of them now. It doesn’t matter though, because I’m not entering the competition. I just thought you might like to know about the hemp shop if you didn’t already.
Ooh, gorgeous purses!!
OK, I had to Google for something interesting about hemp… here is what stood out!! Paper was made from hemp in China about 2000 years ago. Hemp ropes were used on those big old sailing ships (well, the ships were new at the time!). The first Levi’s made to be work pants were made from hemp canvas… canvas was originally made from hemp, not cotton!
Hmmm, is that more interesting fact?? Perhaps!
I do wish there was more cultivation of organic hemp in Australia… all the cotton growers could just switch out to hemp, and not tell anyone!!
Hemp is so strong you can even build with it, check out this upcoming workshop in Byron Bay: How to build walls from hemp: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119462378097612&ref=mf
Organised by Paul Benhaim, a hemp guru, I’ve worked with Paul on my Zeopods (http://www.designspotter.com/product/2008/11/ZeoPod-01.html?r=2110177641), a pouf, where of the hard shell is made from hemp plastic; 100% biodegradable!
So you see hemp is a very good material for all kind of products, not only textiles.
More info on building with hemp:
http://www.thehempbuilder.com/
Hemp has a natural resistance to bacterial and fungal decomposition.
I LOVE YOUR HEMP BAGS!!! Here are my fun facts on hemp….
There are over 25,000 known uses for hemp.
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The heating and compressing of hemp fibers can create building materials superior to wood in strength, quality and cost.
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Hemp is heat, mildew, pest, light, and rot resistant.
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Hemp fabric is softer, warmer, more water resistant and more durable than cotton. Hemp fabric also uses less chemicals to produce.
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Industrial uses of hemp in China date as far back as 10,000 years.
Switching to hemp paper could reduce deforestation significantly. For every 4 acres of trees that are required annually to make paper, only an acre of hemp would be required. Furthermore, because hemp paper can be recycled so many times (up to 7 or 8 times), much less is needed. In comparison, paper from wood pulp can only be recycled around 3 times. This means even more trees are required.
In general, as a crop:
Uses far less water than most other commercial crops. Has a natural resistance to disease and pests, reducing the need for chemical control. Grows much better in tightly planted areas, naturally controlling weeds by blocking out light.
As a food/beauty product:
Hemp seed and oil contain high quantities of the “good fats” needed to maintain health as well as a nutrient (gamma linoleic acid) which is found in mother’s milk. Portions not used for production of other materials can be used as stock feed supplement. The oil has also been used as a moisturizer and can be (SHOULD be!) used as a natural substitute for petrochemicals in cosmetics and baby care products.
As a source of paper products:
Hemp can be made into pulp for paper making using far fewer chemicals than wood, as it breaks down much more easily due to a low lignin content. Four times more pulp (3-8 tons per acre)can be produced from hemp than from the average sized forest.
As a fabric:
Hemp has been used as a cloth fibre for thousands of years – the word “canvas” is derived from “cannabis”! Hemp has anti fungal and antibacterial qualities, making it resistant to mildew and rot, making it more practical for use in outdoor applications such as ropes, canvas, etc. It also has superior UV blocking capabilities (great for clothing!). The fibre is much stronger than cotton, and much like linen, gets softer with age.
Seven years ago, in desperation, because I had left my golf cap at home, I bought one made of hemp, because it was all that was on offer in the small Queensland town I was in. I wondered if the hemp fumes may have caused hallucinations or caused me to behave strangely. I need not have been concerned. Apart from slicing my tee shot on the third out of bounds, everything was quite normal. Not only that,the cap was smart and comfortable.And so it has remained to this day, although the colour has faded slightly. I have worn it twice a week since that first outing. It has withstood sun rain, hail and frost. It is cool in summer, warm in winter and repels flies and mosquitoes and since wearing it I have not been stung by a bee, attacked by a magpie or confronted by a cane toad. It has not been able to attract birdies on the golf course bu I live in hopes.
If the cap wears out before I do, I would certainly want another made of hemp. Perhaps I could commission Anne of Sir Tom to fashion a bespoke item for me.
Those purses look lovely.
Hemp is a great fabric for cloth nappies. Its very absorbent, twice as much as cotton and is very durable so the nappies will last and last. It also has natural antibacterial properties which is great for babies who are prone to nappy rash (and for mums who leave the nappy washing too long. It never ever goes mouldy).
wow the purses look so cool!
hemp is the new black!
when other textiles are struggling, hemp ticks the boxes for durability, coolness, sustainability – and personally i love its texture!
The pentagon in the states rests on land that used to be a hemp crop. It was illegal over there to not grow hemp not so long ago!
We used it for everything until greedy petrochemical corporate types spread propaganda to eradicate it and converted the world to oil.
Hemp can be used as a bioplastic substitute for all that yucky oil that BP spilt everywhere –
http://www.hempplastic.com
you can make money growing it too, http://www.growinghempforprofit.com, where it says you can use it to make fuel and paper!