In a previous post I made talking about climate change, I brought up hemp as being a major player in improving agriculture and industry when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. Of these improvements would be for building healthy and efficient homes and buildings, ecologically friendly clothing, high carbon sequestration, and it's dynamic use in all kinds of products. In the United States growing hemp is suppressed and it would be similar to criminalizing rebar in the manufacturing age. Below I will show just how great of an impact these changes will have.
Building material
Products like Hempcrete are clean in that they do not contain toxic chemicals that can be breathed in like current building materials have. On top of that it is a carbon negative material, and is ideal for buildings and homes with its fire and pest resistance. Even further, hemp can be used to insulate buildings and homes thus requiring far lower energy demands to heat and cool homes. Imagine the savings when it comes to hiring exterminators, buying fire insurance, energy bills, and medical bills that would go into your pocket when hemp does all of this for you at an inexpensive rate if production were allowed. This video by National Geographic covers the use of industrial hemp very well and explores this further:
Clothing
The water costs of cotton are enormous. It takes 2,700 liters of water to produce one shirt. That is water that could be used for drinking water and sanitation and according to water.org billions of people need it and don't have access to it. On the other hand, hemp is easy to grow and requires about half of what it takes to manufacture cotton. Here is another informative video by National Geographic showing the monumental costs cotton imposes, and again, imagine the savings not just in water but in monetary cost when all of these expensive practices are removed from the equation:
Finally, here is a TEDx talk to conclude with. There are many opportunities for economic growth that coincide with the growth of hemp without the drawbacks that cause climate change, illness, and lets everyone take a step closer to self sustaining living. If you like what you read please leave an upvote, comment on what your ideas are, and maybe consider supporting me on Patreon. Thank you!