How Hemp can Help Save our Planet

 

Hemp a plant to save the planet

 How Hemp can Help Save our Planet

I'm excited, and you should be too. We have technologies and products within our grasp that can help us save the planet, help feed the hungry, provide construction, textiles and other materials and are eco-friendly.

The plant I'm excited about is hemp. It is part of the stavia plant family, cannabis, but hemp doesn't contain as much THC as cannabis, which gives it it's unique qualities.  Accordingly to wikipedia, Hemp has lower concentrations of THC and may have higher concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD), which decreases or eliminates its psychoactive effects.  

What Makes Hemp Great for Our Planet?

1) Hemp is one of the fastest growing planets on earth. It takes about 4 months for the stalks to mature.

2) Hemp is a great carbon sponge - for every tonne of hemp it removes 1.63 tons of carbon from the air, which is more than trees.

3) Hemp seeds are highly nutritious - Hemp seed provides more protein per gram than beef, and  more omega 3 and 6 than salmon.

4) Hemp is a plant that is organically grown, so it is good for the soil, and other plant, animal and  insect life because hemp requires no pesticides or herbicides, nothing is destroyed or poisoned in its production and it can grow just about anywhere, as it needs far less water than rice wheat or soy.

5) Hemp has multiple uses besides that of a food and skincare products. And by the way it is an impressive emollient, and fantastic for clearing skin conditions in a safe and natural way.  

Hemp and it's many uses 

Hemp has multiple uses and doesn't need pesticides to grow

6) It helps to reduce industrial and household waste. As far back as over 10,000 years ago it was the first plant to be woven into a usable fibre.  It's fibres which are cellulose can be used to make textiles, and other construction materials  such as a  Hempcrete, a biocomposite material which is used for construction and insulation.

 

 It can completely wipe out the need for plastic production and thereby cut out the toxic pollution created by this industry.  What is more it is a biodegradable product, so it won't damage our seas, soil and wildlife like plastic has done.  In fact BMW is using hemp products to replace it's use of plastic in some of it's cars.

Bioremediation - Hemp cleanses the soil 

Hemp cleanses the soil in crop rotation

It can help with soil pollution. -Industrial hemp has a natural ability to remove toxic chemicals from soil. After the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, hemp was used to help clear radiation from the soil, showcasing successful results as the roots of the plant are deep and wide and can reach down to a depth of 3 feet. They are tolerant to heavy metals enabling them to be more effective at expelling widespread contamination.

Taranto in Italy also used industrial hemp to help clear the air and soil from the massive toxic problems caused by Italy's largest steel works. 

In Taranto, according to experts, between 2004 and 2010 there were on average 83 deaths a year attributable to exceedances of particulate matter in the air, while hospitalizations for cardio-respiratory causes would amount to 648 per year. [ILVA] workers showed excess mortality from malignant disease (+11%), in particular for stomach cancer (+107), pleura (+ 71%), prostate (+50) and bladder (+69%). Among the non-cancerous diseases are found to be in excess neurological diseases (+64%) and heart disease (+14%). The workers with the qualification of employed presented excess mortality for cancer of the pleura (+135%) and brain (+111%). The impairment framework of the health status of the workers of the steel industry is confirmed by the analysis of hospital admissions in excess of hospitalizations for causes cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory.” (7)

3. Solution to Deforestation

Hemp can provide a solution to deforestation by providing the materials we need instead of needing to cut down trees to get it. Deforestation inflicts devastation on the planet, daily by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. It is also responsible for the extinction of many animal species in the Amazon and other countries.

How can Hemp Help with Global Warming and Climate Change?

Hemp Plastic

 

The more hemp we safely grow the more carbon is taken out of the air, reducing global warming. And since hemp has a plethora of uses the more we use it for paper, bio-fuel, textiles, construction materials, food etc. the less waste we will produce.the less deforestation will be required and we could potentially reverse existing damage afflicted by global warming and climate change.  

Buy Local

Many countries are producing hemp, so buy from your own country or a country close by. Don't increase the size of your carbon footprint because of price, it diminishes the objective of reducing air pollution.

I certainly won't be buying any of my hemp products from China because there is a great source of high quality, organically grown and processed hemp in the UK.

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Worm Composting - Eco Friendly Lifestyle

 

How can you live a more eco friendly lifestyle if you don’t have a garden? 

 

We can compost more

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food is the biggest ingredient in American trash while in the UK households throw away between £250 and £400 of potentially edible food every year. It has been estimated that up to 80% of the contents of our dustbins could be easily recycled or composted. 

Currently over 35% of the average garbage can is filled with kitchen scraps—scraps that could be diverted from being dumped in a landfill site.  

Diverting none animal kitchen scraps is from being tossed into landfills is important because, organic waste generates methane gas (a dangerous green-house gas that increases the rate of global climate change.  

We are all asked to work to make our carbon footprint smaller to help to reduce the amount of methane gas.  That is why we are also asked to cut down on meat and dairy products for the same reason. 

  

Less Green House Gas Production

 

Interestingly methane gas isn’t a by product when kitchen scraps are turned into compost that is why In many places local councils operate a composting program and offer a brown bin, garden refuse fortnightly collection. 

Or you can go one step further and compost your own kitchen waste for use in your garden. or for your potted plants? 

But what if you don’t have a garden. Does living in an apartment give you a get out pass on composting? 

It needn’t do.  there are good composting options for everyone to help us live more eco friendly lifestyles. 

One of the options for composting where you don’t have much space is Compost With Worms? 

Charles Darwin talking about worms said, “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures.” 

It is a fact that worms play an essential part in our ecosystem. There are over 5000 species of worms, and these trillions of tiny diggers are one of the facts that we can live on this planet; infact humans wouldn’t exist without them. 

vermicomposting or vermiculture, 

Vermiculture is such an inportant and eco friendly, efficient method of composting that it is a method used by commercial farmers and municipalities as a way of breaking down huge amounts of food waste and manure.  Not only that but if it is done properly it can be the panacea of nauseating aroma free compost. 

Worm composting, produces odour free compost that takes around 30 minutes each week to maintain, and the biggest time investment is harvesting the worm castings or garden fertilizer, which happens around every quarter or half a year. 

 

You can make your own worm composting system. Basically you’ll need 2 plastic boxes, one shallow and bigger to collect the worm tea for plant feed, the taller narrower box needs to have holes drilled into it and be filled with paper, cardboard, soil kitchen scraps and worms. The 2nd box needs raising off the ground to allow for drainage. 

If you want to learn how to make a worm box then check out youtube. 

The other option is to buy a ready made system. 

 

So going forward think more about the waste you throw away that can be safely composted and make the effort to compost it.  Be part of the solution to reducing green house gases, and saving our planet.