All Hail Hemp

Think hemp’s for smoking? Think again. Hemp is a naturally insect-resistant, anti-microbial crop that requires no herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers to produce. Unfortunately, it’s been tainted by the relationship to its THC-laced cousin marijuana, and has been effectively prohibited in the U.S. since the 1950s—with the recent exception (huzzah!) of Colorado.

But did you know that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp? Ben Franklin once owned a hemp paper mill—and a first draft of the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. The stuff’s as American as apple pie.

Today, “made in America” hemp products are manufactured with imported hemp, but they’re still worth snapping up: In comparison to cotton, hemp requires half the amount of water, produces 200% more fiber on the same amount of land, and needs no pesticides.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2014 at 9:21 am. It is filed under Sustainability and tagged with eco-fashion, hemp, marijuana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.