Despite its ‘illegal’ status, hemp is an ever increasingly popular material and uses range from making socks to building houses.
Hemp is illegal to grow in the U.S since 1970 due to its ties with the marijuana industry, like cannabis, hemp creates a ‘high’ when smoked and so was criminalized by the Controlled Substances Act.
But hemp is now undergoing a resurgence and some states have now made it legal to crow for cultivation thanks to its amazing building and fabric qualities.
In the 1970’s when interest in hemp was at it’s highest, the decoricator was invented. This machine makes it easy to turn the fibers from hemp into textiles, clothing, paper, and plastic.
‘Popular Mechanics’ reported that during this time “10,000 acres devoted to hemp will produce as much paper as 40,000 acres of average [forest] pulp land.”
Hemp can be used as a dietary supplement to get more essential amino acids into your diet, and it has high levels of the nutrient omega-3.
Hemp is very easy to grow and on average from being planted to being harvest takes only around six months. It is said if hemp was legal, every one could grow their own in their back garden, that’s how easy it is.
They can grow successfully without any pesticides or synthetic chemicals, meaning it is better for the environment than other crops, and its thick roots improves nitrogen flow in the soil, fertilizing the land better.
Aside from producing versatile textile materials, hemp can even be used to build houses with. Its strong fibers create excellent building materials such as ‘hempcrete‘ which is stronger and tougher than concrete. These materials don’t rot, are non toxic and are kind to the environment.
George Washington himself said “Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.”
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