Hemp

Until 1883, 75-90% of the worlds paper was made with hemp fiber from hemp plants. Hemp paper is classified as environmentally friendly as it is one of several types of paper made from alternative fibres (other types include kenaf, bagasse, wheatstraw, rice straw, etc.)

Figure 1. No title. (Lopez, 2017)

Making paper from trees is actually quite inefficient. Only 30% of the tree is cellulose (material used in making paper), in comparison hemp is made up of 85% cellulose.

This means that a complete transferal to hemp paper would increase the efficiency of cellulose use for paper by 180%! This would help to reduce the strain on our forests and allow them to regrow – anything that can be made from wood can also be made from hemp.

To put this in terms of land use, every acre of hemp could produce as much as 4-10 acres over a 20 year cycle. This is partly because hemp plants take only 4 months to mature whereas trees take 20-80 years!

Hemp paper is also renewable and easier to recycle, this would reduce the pressure that high paper use is having on landfills as well.

Hemp Paper

Figure 2. Hemp paper. (Mann, 2015)

Other benefits:

  • Hemp paper is also stronger and more durable than paper from wood, this means it would be more effective for keeping records aside from computers.
  • Hemp can has many uses: food, body oil, clothing, plastic (biodegradable), construction materials and fuel (bio-diesel)
  • Can be grown in any soil
  • Doesn’t need pesticides

Barriers:

  • It is illegal in many countries (including the US) – this is because the hemp plant is associated with marijuana, leading people to focus on the effects of THC in marijuana (remedial hemp) on getting high. Regular non-remedial hemp (THC less than .3%) does not even get people high yet is still illegal.
  • It is believed that it was made illegal in the US by business tycoons with associations to President Hoover, looking to protect their businesses from the threat that hemp posed.
  • Consumers have power but this is very limited when it is illegal to purchase hemp products in the first place