The Benefits of Industrial Hemp
5 Ways Industrial Hemp Could Change Our Society While medical and recreational marijuana seem to be getting all the press nowadays, it won’t be long before industrial hemp takes over the limelight according to Cynthia Salarizadeh. Salarizadeh, CEO of Salar Media Group - a cannabis industry focused public relations and consulting firm stated, “It’s amazing we’re so far into marijuana legalization, and people are not focusing on hemp as much as I would have hoped.”And while you may be thinking to yourself, “but hemp is legal, right?,” what needs to be considered is its uses in large scale applications such as oil, fuels, plastics, textiles and paper. Smoking weed may be the primary focus of the average cannabis activist due to its direct effect on themselves or family members suffering from one of the many conditions that pot can help treat, but the global implications substituting hemp for less ideal materials should definitely not be overlooked.Derek Riedle, publisher of Civilized, shares the same passion as Salarizadeh with regards to widespread use of hemp materials. “If more media attention is directed toward the potential of industrial hemp for economic and sustainability purposes, regulations will have an easier time passing and serious investment will begin to commence.” [parallax]
[/parallax] How Can We Use More Hemp?These visionaries may be leading the way towards a shift in the way we look at hemp today. Here are just 5 ways using more hemp could change our day-to-day lives ... and it could make a BIG difference. Just check this out.
- Plastics. Hemp is a desirable material to make plastics due to its ability to pull carbon out of the air like other plants. This carbon negative property makes it a much better option than conventional plastics due to its biodegradability.
- Agriculture. The hemp plant is also able to improve soil quality in mono cropping situations. The agricultural benefits are explained by Salarizadeh. “Every time you have a full-season crop, the soil gets ‘tired,’ nutrients get sucked out.” Industrial hemp is known to replenish nutrients in the soil, in a process known as bioremediation. For this reason, it can be a useful tool in modern farming practices, and may be especially of interest as a Regenerative Organic Certified Crop.
- Textiles. Hemp could also be a savior to the textile industry. Due to the fact that hemp requires much less land and none of the conventional herbicides that cotton requires to grow, hemp may offer potential for cleaning up the ecosystem. It is said that the production of a typical T-shirt uses up to half a pound of chemicals and 700 gallons of water so, it is easy to see why hemp’s advocates are so motivated to get the word out there.
- Health and Beauty. Those already using hemp seeds and oils as a source of fat and protein in their diet as well as the numerous skin care products containing the wonder-plant already know its power. Products such as hemp milks, lotions, and lip balms are making a big presence in the marketplace.
- Economics. While the potential of hemp is virtually untapped, it is estimated that U.S. hemp-related product sales neared $700 million according to the Hemp Business Journal reports. The same publication estimates that by the year 2020 that figure will reach $1.8 billion. These figures are primarily made up of hemp-based food and beauty products as well as CBD products. For those not familiar with CBD, it is a non-psychoactive version of cannabis that has a laundry list of medicinal purposes due to its demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects.1
With so many applications hemp is capable of providing on personal, societal, industrial and environmental levels it is no wonder it has so many well-established cannabis proponents such as Cynthia Salarizadeh and Derek Riedle. You can help bring the human race and the hemp plant closer to total liberation by getting involved in your local communities and using your dollars to support hemp friendly companies. It’s up to us, so join us on FaceBook, and Instagram to let us know how you support the use of hemp in your life!References:
- Prakash Nagarkatti, Rupal Pandey. Cannabinoids as novel anti-inflammatory drugs. Future Med Chem. 2009 Oct; 1(7): 1333–1349.