HEMP VS. COTTON

Hemp is the softest, most comfortable fabric you can rest on - but that's just part of the story.

 

• Hemp cultivation is carbon negative*, making it the miracle fiber of the future

• Ethically produced mattresses make people feel great in both mind and body

• Hemp is unrivaled in its comfort and its durability. 

• Hemp is naturally anti-bacterial*-no added chemicals needed here!

 

Hemp and Carbon Sequestration

 

So much research has been done over the years to confirm this promising fact: For every ton of hemp fiber 1.62 tons of CO2 is likely to be sequestered (1). Think of all of the possibilities hemp can be used in just the furniture industry alone. Mattresses are just the start for us, but many people around the world are rolling up their sleeves and finding ways to incorporate hemp into countless other products.

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Hemp is one of the few bright spots in humankind’s struggle to fit industry into the equation of our fragile ecosystem. Hemp is what we like to call the miracle fiber of the future because it provides many solutions to the problems found in traditional manufacturing. For one, it grows fast. With such a fast turnaround, the same fields can produce more fiber, using less water than other crops, such as cotton and flax. Hemp has so many uses that are continually being discovered, and in some cases rediscovered. Researchers are working on replacing fiberglass applications with a hemp composite, so that way less carbon is emitted. Even building materials are able to incorporate the strength of hemp fiber so that construction can be seen a green activity, not a devastating one. Dr Mike Lawrence is Director of the Building Research Park  at the University of Bath in the U.K. This facility is finding ways to turn plant fiber into building materials, and the findings are very promising (2). It’s all about reducing one’s carbon footprint. Hemp is where everyone is looking for solutions in just about any industrial product. 

 

What do America’s first flag and Levi Strauss’ original jeans have in common?

 

They were made with hemp fabric (https://www.thehia.org/).

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Learning about hemp textiles on the Hemp Industries Association’s website is a must for anyone interested in a future where environmentally friendly practices are the norm. You will discover interesting facts about our nation’s long history of hemp production before what we like to call The Great Stigma. Like many stigmas, the fear of industrial hemp is borne out of nothing more than ignorance. Share your knowledge to others to help stomp out this ignorance.

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Other Useful Resources

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        *refers to Raw Hemp

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• U.S. Hemp Roundtable (USHRT)

• American Herbal Products Association (AHPA)

• U.S. Hemp Authority™ (USHA)

• United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA)

 

Sources: 

 

1. Sunstrand Sustainable Materials. “Hemp. The Solution for Global Warming, https://www.sunstrands.com/2019/hemp-the-solution-for-global-warming/ p. 1 

2. 
   Lawrence, Michael. “Growing our way out of climate change by building with hemp and wood fibre” The Guardian. 9/25/2014. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/sep/25/hemp-wood-fibre-construction-climate-change