Hemp As An Eco-Solution
Wednesday 25 October 2006
A discussion of the adaptability, the efficiency and the importance of hemp in our struggling world.
Hemp as an Eco-Solution
By Robin Crowley
Introduction
What does ecological thinking mean to me? Ecology suggests ideas of interaction and relationships with nature, with things other than, but also including ourselves. It's where and how we live, what we consume and what we produce, what we affect and what we destroy. Ecological thinking is bearing in mind the impact we have on everything around us. There is no room for selfishness and greed when aiming to perform a task in an ecologically conscious manner.
Hemp a.k.a. Cannabis Sativa is an eco-solution in it own right. Hemp is more than just a material - it is a whole collection of useful materials packaged in a single plant/structure. It is solar powered, takes very little from the earth (ie, has a low environmental impact) and has so much to offer us. It is amazing that it has been suppressed and neglected for so long.
I personally believe, having had an interest in hemp for some time, that it is one of the most neglected resources on earth. Before looking at hemp as an eco-material for today's troubled structure I want to look briefly at its use throughout history.
History of Hemp
Looking back, hemp has been present and utilised by many cultures. The Chinese used it as a food source (seeds) as long ago as 6000 BC and then later in 4000 BC the fibres were used to create textiles. China discovered the possibility to use hemp to make paper around 100 AD. This very early use of hemp proves that hemp is far from a recent discovery and also illustrates the fact that hemp preceded most of its current alternatives/competitors.
Much more recently our own monarchy has played a part in hemp production. In the early 1500s King Henry VIII encouraged farmers to grow hemp as a source of raw material to fabricate rope, sails, maps etc. for the British navy. The ships were even sealed with a hemp based sealant.
Around 1563 Queen Elizabeth I made it clear that she wanted as much hemp grown in Britain as possible. She even made it compulsory for landowners with over 60 acres to grow hemp or be fined £5.
The Americans also discovered the many uses of this amazing plant. In the 17th Century farmers in Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut were legally obliged to grow hemp on their land, and by the 18th century would be imprisoned if they were not doing so. Also at this time hemp was considered to be legal tender. The first American flag, sewn by Betsy Ross, was made from hemp, as was the first pair of Levis. And how did the USA repay and acknowledge the contribution hemp made to their society? By outlawing it!
Hemp for Today
Industrial hemp production can be viewed as an environmentally sound solution to many problems. During research for this article I discovered that hemp activists claim hemp has around 50,000 commercial uses. I don't wish to explore all these uses, as my article would surely become a book. For this article I am concerned with looking at the main uses for the hemp plant. Those uses which would help start to solve immediate problems such as deforestation, mass production of oil based materials (such as plastics), the pollution caused by this process and the depletion of other natural resources which is slowly leading towards the end of the world. Henry Ford put it well:
"Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the fields?"
I see hemp as a self-contained self-supporting ecologically sound system. It is a plant that can grow almost anywhere and will take very little from the land and in general can help to improve it. A plant that can supply food, clothing, shelter and fuel is surely the greatest gift on earth. Roots spread far and hold topsoil together. Dead foliage left after harvesting helps to enrich the soil and no pesticides are required. Seed can be planted by hand or with simple machinery. Needing almost no fertilisers, no weeding, no herbicides or pesticides (so very little effort on the farmers' part) hemp grows up to 4 metres tall in 100 days. Due to its extremely high rate of growth, hemp yields much more fibre than its current, widely used alternatives. For example, hemp can produce 250% more fibre than cotton and 600% more fibre than flax using the same amount of land.
The hemp plant itself is a tall, thin woody plant. It will outgrow any competing plants and can grow to up to around 4 - 5 metres tall. The main elements of the hemp plant are the stem, containing the outer bark or "bast" fibres and the inner wood or "hurd", the leaves and the seeds. Obviously, the roots are another vital element of the plant, but I'm currently concentrating on what exists above ground level that is utilised by man.
Bark/Fibre
The outer layer of the hemp plant's stem is separated from the inner wood/hurd through a process called decortication. This is carried out by a very large machine - some over 60 metres long - not surprisingly called a "decorticator". Through this process bast fibre, wood, seeds and leaves are all separated ready to be processed further. The bast fibres (these contain up to 80% cellulose) are spun into a thread that can then be used to make rope or woven into textiles of different types from clothing to canvas. This process involves no chemicals. These fibres can also be processed further to produce composite materials such as those used in car interiors today. They are also valuable in construction, proving ideal for use in "cellulosic composites" such as medium density fibreboard (MDF). Further still, the bast fibres are used to produce plastics and very thin but very strong paper.
The production of and demand for hemp textiles are increasing all the time. Hemp has again started to be recognised for its superior qualities. It is stronger than cotton and flax and as far as durability is concerned it can last two to three times longer than other natural fibre based textiles. Hemp textiles hold their shape, stretch less, retain colour dyes for longer and are more porous (allowing clothes to breathe) than more commonly used alternatives. These characteristics are obviously desirable from the consumers' point of view but are also positive for a more eco-friendly clothing solution. If clothes last longer people will require fewer clothes throughout their lives, thereby saving materials and production energy. With hemp textiles, which require no chemical treatment, items of clothing that have served their purpose and are worn out can be recycled into paper for example.
Back in the early 1930s, Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company saw a future in hemp, and especially biomass fuels. At Ford's Iron Mountain facility in Michigan, Engineers used hemp and other similarly useful plants to extract methanol, charcoal fuel, tar, pitch, ethyl acetate and creosote. All of these substances are fundamental ingredients of modern manufacturing and are today supplied by oil related industries. What I personally find even more interesting when looking at Ford's relationship with hemp is his commitment to the plant as a source of a composite material for bio-plastics.
In 1941 Henry Ford unveiled the product of twelve years of research: a Ford model T with a body made entirely from a bio-plastic consisting of 70% hemp, wheat straw and sisal fibres and 30% resin binder mounted on a steel frame. This had never been done before and it seems ridiculous that it isn't being done at the moment. This bio-plastic developed by Ford was tested and found to fare ten times better than steel when involved in an impact. Not only was it strong but it was also very light. The weight of the new plastic-bodied Ford was 2000lbs compared with 3000lbs for steel-bodied equipment. This would produce a more efficient, faster car but most importantly the car's fuel consumption would be lower than its steel-bodied equivalent, making the plastic body a ground-breaking eco-solution. If this was what was achievable 64 years ago I find it depressing that such methods are not taken advantage of today, due to hemp cultivation restrictions around the world.
Hurds
Once the outer bast fibres are removed from the stem of the hemp plant you are left with the inner woody "hurds". Once dry, this raw material is ready to be used in many ways. In raw form, shredded hemp hurds are commonly used as a chemical free, highly absorbent animal bedding. Hurds are also widely used to make a pulp from which to manufacture paper. The result is a paper which outlasts other papers made from wood pulp (trees), and also requires no chemical treatment. Due to this lack of chemical content hemp paper can biodegrade and cause no harm to the environment in the process.
Probably the most remarkable process that hemp hurds can undergo is the transition from vegetable to mineral. This process was developed hundreds of years ago in France as a building aid. It became a fundamental resource for the construction industry and is still used there today, particularly for flooring. The mixing of hemp hurds with lime and water actually changes the state of the hemp from plant to stone, in effect, and creates a safe, natural and easily manipulated building material. The reaction that takes place does so due to the high amounts of a chemical compound called Silica, or Silicon Dioxide (SO2), more common in sandstone and other rocks.
This process could be used in so many applications. I imagine an adventurous designer could design an entire building harnessing the potential of hemp. Possibly mixing the above process with boards and planks manufactured from hurds, bast fibres or a mixture of the two.
Seeds
Hemp seeds are the third impressive resource available from the plant. Produced by the female plant, they are very nutritious and contain 25% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 15% fibre as well as essential fatty acids, such as omega 3 and 6. Hempseed is one of the best sources of protein available to vegetarians. Hempseed oil can be processed into many different products such as plastics, resins, paints, varnishes, animal hoof sealants and conditioners.
What's the Story?
So, now I have come to the big question: Why are we not all wearing, driving, living amongst and even eating hemp products? A few do, but most don't. I believe there is more than one answer to this question. Firstly, and maybe most obviously, it the THC factor. THC stands for Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and is the chemical substance in some strains of cannabis sativa, usually referred to as marijuana, which gets you stoned. THC is present in all variations of cannabis, both hemp and marijuana, at about 0.3% in hemp and 5% to 20% in marijuana. This relationship between hemp, an agricultural wonder, and marijuana, an intoxicant, is the main downfall of hemp. That, and basically being too useful. Yes, that's right - too useful. Hemp as a raw, environmentally sound material is so quick to grow, so strong and so durable that it posses a big threat to many other industries. Especially oil related industries.
Back in the 1930s in America, our planet's most dominant power, anti-hemp campaigns began - campaigns triggered by the comfortably wealthy industries such as oil which were threatened by hemp. By this time hemp was a thriving trade and the processing of the hemp had even become mechanised. But by 1937 American congress had passed the "Marijuana Tax Act". This tax and regulations that surrounded it made hemp cultivation almost impossible for most farmers. Without making it illegal, America had managed to begin ridding its land of one of the most valuable plants to man and the planet itself. After this successful destruction of the hemp industry the men responsible started promoting anti-hemp legislation around the world. The beginning of the end for hemp.
Throughout history, hemp had been considered and treated as different from the THC-heavy marijuana plant. But to complete the destruction of the hemp industry, in 1960 America decided to bring in a new law, "The Controlled Substances Act", which stated that hemp was not a different plant from marijuana. Marijuana had already been outlawed in America in 1937 and this new law made hemp production and possession totally illegal. America imposed its philosophies on the rest of the world and only recently has hemp re-emerged as the ultimate eco-soloution that it is.
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