Why Hemp? – Environmentally Friendly Artist 2

One of the things I mentioned in my first article was HEMP.

Why?

• Hemp requires little fertilizer and is an incredibly hardy crop. It therefore is cheaper to grow, easier, and can be grown in many different parts of the world.
• Hemp is remarkably pest resistant and therefore needs no pesticides
• The Cannabis strain of hemp is actually different from the crop strain and is no good for the uses I am outlying here
• The fibres of hemp can be used to make strong, long-lasting rope, paper, clothing, shoes, baby nappies, canvas, cellophane, paints, chain lubricants, biodegradable plastics, fibreboard, cement blocks, food, cosmetics, soap AND FUEL
• Hemp seeds are comparable to sunflower seeds in their nutritional properties.
• Hemp seeds can be used in cooking and combined with cereal and granola. They can be processed to create a nutritious protein powder. Hemp seeds also contain Omega-3 fatty acids.
• Hemp puts down deep roots which is good for soil and the leaves actually return goodness to the soil thereby allowing crops to be grown again and again on the same land.  In fact it has been known to grow a hemp crop for up to 20 years with no ill effects on the land.  NOT like most produce.
• With no pesticides, no farmland turnover, no chemicals, and easy growth it is far cheaper than most crops.  If therefore we grow locally, less fuel costs too will make this one of the best crops for future farmers.

If therefore every country grew more coarse hemp, we would have a natural, cheap alternative to destroying woodlands and rainforests.

Now trees can always be used, but this would give us time to regrow the tress that are rapidly being depleted worldwide at present.

Unfortunately the industry is not growing trees correctly.  Most trees need a vast number of years to become a proper ‘oxygen machine’ and the industry only replants 30 year trees, quite often not even allowing these to reach natural maturity.

This conversation is continued in our Talk Art Forum that has FREE membership. Come and join in as we explore what it takes to be an Environmentally Friendly Artist

Or read all the posts so far in this section HERE

Tags: art, artists, EFA, environment, hemp, paper, trees

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 22:30 and is filed under Art Room . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

ABOUT THIS COLUMNIST I live in Manchester, UK and spend my time working for the arts. My actual profession is Artist, but I spend more time now reporting and promoting artists. I also write for Our Gym (co.uk) and Galileo Was Right (com) All posts By: 1stAngel Website: http://1stangel.co.uk See Your Work on 1stAngel for Free