Home Truth

During an evening of ethical online retail therapy (the ultimate in guilt free shopping!), I came across an irresistible buy. Writing paper and envelopes sporting what looked like a cannabis leaf. Made of hemp, apparently. Perfect for my offbeat world-wandering niece!

Wanted to mention it here as something a bit wacky, but realised I know absolutely nothing about hemp. Well, that’s not quite true. My son has some hemp NoSweat trainers and I recall coming across some items of hemp clothing in the Natural Collection catalogue, but I wouldn’t know where to start with the Hemp Online Quiz I was confronted with this morning!

To save you a trip to Wikipedia, here are some of the facts I have picked up:-

1. Hemp is the common name for plants of the genus Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial (non-drug) use.

2.The fibre is one of the most valuable parts of the hemp plant. Hemp fibres can be 3 to 15 feet long, running the length of the plant.

3. Before the industrial revolution, hemp was a popular fibre because it is strong and grows quickly; it produces 250% more fibre than cotton when grown on the same land. However, over time, hemp fibre was replaced in most roles - manila for better rope; jute for sacking; wood pulp for paper; wool and nylon for carpets; cotton and synthetics for netting and webbing.

4. It was used to make canvas, and the word canvas itself derives from cannabis.

5. In recent years, hemp has been widely promoted as a crop for the future. This is stimulated by new technologies which make hemp suitable for industrial paper manufacturing, biofuel, clothing, health food and body care products.

So the hemp fan club is growing and the fanaticism leads to impressive claims:-

“Hemp is the number one plant for producing clothing, paper, plastics, building materials, food, beverages, cosmetics, methanol fuel and an impressive array of cleaning and paint products. And we can keep growing it every year.”
Quote from www.hemp.co.uk

Wow! What an amazing crop! In a weird way, I love it when the related searches list includes hemp seeds, products, clothing, oil, necklaces, jewellery, rope….oh and by the way, marijuana! And can you believe there’s a hemp university and we are called to “show you support hemp - with style!” (www.hemp.com)

Can’t wait to see and feel the writing paper.

Now for another go at the quiz…..

6/10.… not bad for a new convert. (How was I supposed to know the female hemp plant was more valuable? Could have made an educated guess, I suppose!!!)

Filed under: sustainability, shopping, development on September 14th, 2007