Industrial hemp has a multitude of valuable uses, from its durability, anti-bacterial properties to its eco-friendliness, here are some of the many reasons why we choose hemp. This ancient natural fibre thrives almost anywhere, with very little impact to the environment.
For centuries, hemp was the fibre of choice for things like sail canvas, rope, paper, and weed control in agriculture (ironic right?). This ancient plant uses a fraction of the amount of space and water that cotton needs to grow, and it produces far more fibre per yield. In addition, it doesn't require any pesticides as its naturally pest-resistant. Harvesting hemp actually enriches and purifies the soil by absorbing toxic minerals, such as mercury, copper and cadmium.
COTTON VS. HEMP
- Cotton needs twice as much land as hemp to equal productivity
- Hemp fibres are up to 4x stronger than cotton fibres
- Cotton requires 9.75L of water to grow 1kg of fibre, hemp only requires approximately 2.12L
- Large quantities of herbicides and pesticides are needed to grow cotton, poisoning both land and water
- Hemp does not requre any chemical pesticides
- Cotton requires 2725L of water for every shirt made, hemp only requires 680L for every shirt
- Hemp is the biggest CO2 to oxygen convertor, cleaning the air and helping to combat global warming
Hemp clothing is one of the strongest, most durable textile fibres with amazing properties, naturally resistant to mould and UV rays, breaths well and is also bio-degradable.
THE CANNABIS PLANT
Hemp has even proven to be a beneficial phyto-remediative plant, meaning it restores balance to environment by cleaning the soil, air and water. Scientists have found that it can even clean up polluted areas that have been affected by radiation. Amazingly, hemp has been used to cull heavy metals, reduce soil toxicity from soil in contaminated fields near Chernobyl.
