It's been said that there's some 25,000 products made from hemp fiber. That's a lot of products! This old photo from post prohibition hemp farming in the Southern States demonstrates how much fiber a crop of hemp can produce, approximately 5 tonnes per acre, which is 4Xs the biomass per acre of tree fiber on forest land.
The bast (long, strong outer fiber) and hurd (the spongy inner core fiber) are the raw materials for processing many common household products, products that are long lasting and biodegradable, and processed without chemicals. Products that are made from raw hemp grown organically or conventionally with a minimum of chemical inputs.
Hemp plants absorb a ridicules amount of carbon to make up all that biomass. The carbon is then stored for as long as the product lasts before it is returned to the soil by naturally biodegrading. Short use or single use products like paper are considered carbon neutral while long term products like hemp create or hemp building blocks are carbon negative, meaning they remove and store carbon. How much carbon you ask??? These figures from HempTech Global report:
The more Hemp products there is the more carbon is sequestered in Hemp fiber products. This, it would seem, could make a valuable contribution to the fight against climate change, wouldn't you think. Based on these figures, one might ask: Why are governments not taking this super simple and completely natural form of carbon sequestration and running with it???
While hemp textiles, clothing, rope and paper, are the most noted hemp products there's an endless number of products either made from hemp, or that could be made from hemp bast and hurd fiber. Hemp products benefit people and the planet because they are safe and non-toxic. They can be used to replace many of the plastic, petrochemical and wood fiber products that are causing environmental pollution and climate crisis.
At HempNetMarket we believe that Hemp fiber products are part of the green sustainable solution. But it can only be successful if:
A sustainable future requires that most products in common use are bio-degradable and part of a green renewable circular economy. This goal is both attainable and completely necessary but requires a transition and restructuring of the manufacturing sector to using hemp fiber as a manufacturing feed stock.
Since hemp is an agricultural raw material, and it is not cost effective to ship hemp stalks, it requires primary production at or near where it grows. This adds important business opportunities in rural communities and will have a positive impact on the local economy.
Is hemp a fiber source to provide the feed stock for a Green Economy? Well it seems like the perfect solution is staring us in the face, but it will take people demanding a safe, eco-friendly solution to move the program forward!
Hemp's bast fiber processors make textiles, clothing, paper, diapers, hand bags, sneakers, fine fabrics, insulation, growth medium, bio-fiberglass, fiber board panels etc.