Hemp could be everywhere. Calming your skin, shaping the hood of your car, holding up buildings, hugging (and loving) your curves.
But it isn’t.
Until the 1930s, hemp was living to the fullest as the most used crop in the U.S. That was until Harry Anslinger, U.S. Representative to the United Nations Narcotics Commission, used racist messaging to try to make the plant illegal.
Hemp did experience a renaissance during WWII, when the U.S. government supported its use for uniforms, canvas, parachutes, and other military supplies.
But like Mean Girls 2, hemp’s sequel quickly faded into the background – and by 1945 it was banned again.
Fast forward to The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (also referred to as the Farm Bill), which authorized the production of hemp and removed it from the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) schedule of Controlled Substances. Yay.
After a 70+ year (forced) hibernation, hemp is making a comeback, stocking more shelves and making our habits more sustainable, one thoughtful purchase at a time.
Let’s explore some of the best products that can be made from hemp – starting with our favorite: hemp fabric.
Hemp fabric
*Cracks knuckles* Hemp. Fabric. Being a hemp underwear brand, we could talk all day about the magic of those little fibers hugging your goods all day. But we’ll be brief because, well, we have to share the spotlight with hemp’s other jobs (she’s booked and busy!).
Almost any fabric-based item in your home could be made with hemp. Jeans, tees, towels, sheets, socks – you name it, hemp can be it.
Hemp up against cotton? That’s like making a national league team play in the premier league. It’s almost cruel. But, for the sake of this blog, let’s show how many goals hemp can get.
Just one acre of hemp produces as much fiber as two or three acres of cotton. Goal.
Hemp is stronger and softer than cotton (and gets softer with every wash). Goal!
It’s antimicrobial (bye bye bacteria). GOAL!
It lasts a loooooong time. While that pair of cotton underwear you have will probably run threadbare in less than a year, hemp hangs on like a desperate ex. Hemp fiber imprints were even found in 10,000 year old pottery shards in China. GOAL!!!!!
Ok, so that’s hemp, 4 – cotton, 0.
For all your lucid musings and unfinished to-do lists, hemp also makes great paper. Hemp paper is stronger than wood-based paper and can take fold after fold, crease after crease, without losing quality (any origami wizards out there?). Hemp paper that is found in museums has still not yellowed.
While not a soft fabric per se, hemp also makes a mean pair of shoes. Sneakers like these ones from 8000 kicks are acing the test. While your typical pair of running shoes will have a sneaker-shaped footprint of 14 kg of CO2, these babies tread a little more lightly – producing just 4.1 kg. That’s a 70 percent decrease.
Hemp seed oil
Much like olive oil, hemp seeds are cold-pressed to extract the oil from the plant. Hemp seed oil is rich in omega-6 and omega-3, with a fatty acid ratio of 3:1, which healthcare experts agree is ideal for humans.
Hemp seed oil is stacked with health benefits, helping:
- Improve skin, particularly treating issues such as cradle cap, psoriasis, eczema, and acne
- Lower blood pressure, chef’s kiss to those omega-3 fatty acids
- Promote heart health, shoutout to the linoleic acid
- Reduce pain and inflammation, including for conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and multiple sclerosis (MS).
- Support a healthy pregnancy, providing pregnant people with vital omega-3 that supports the brain and eye development of the baby, and may also help reduce instances of maternal depression
If you’re also furiously searching for the nearest place to get your hands on hemp seed oil – same, girl, same.
Hempcrete
Hempcrete is one of the most promising innovations in hemp technology. Hempcrete is carbon negative because it absorbs more CO2 when it’s growing than emitted when it’s processed.
It’s also resistant to fire, mold, and weather, and insulates buildings better than concrete.
Sonia Sifflet is the lead architect on the Pierre Chevet Sports Hall, the first commercial project in France to be constructed almost exclusively from hemp blocks. She believes that “in five years, it will be normal to use hemp blocks. There is no limit to what can be built.”
Beyond the environmental perks, hemp blocks also simplify the construction process. The read-to-use hemp blocks can cut the typical production schedule by 20 to 30 percent, due to the lack of need for cement joints or the drying time concrete requires.
Hemp plastics
As sustainable as we try to be, you can’t go through one day without interacting with plastic.
But all these items don’t have to be made with petroleum-based compounds.
Hemp reshapes the plastic space, creating 100% biodegradable, lightweight yet sturdy materials that rival the plastic out there today.
A Harvard University study evaluated the many uses of hemp as plastic. The findings put hemp in a new echelon of sustainability.
They found that because hemp plastic is lightweight, it can dramatically lower the weight of cars, airplanes, boats, and trains, which in turn cuts fuel consumption.
Being light on its feet doesn’t make hemp a weak candidate for plastic products. Hemp plastics are 5 times stiffer and 2.5 times stronger than conventional plastic.
While hemp grows, it absorbs 4 times as much carbon dioxide as trees. The carbon that the hemp absorbs then gets used to make the plastics. When they are no longer usable, they will biodegrade and deposit carbon back into the soil – making the whole process carbon-negative.
Our mission at Magi is to bring back the magic of hemp – not just in our sustainable underwear, but in all the products that could be made better with hemp.
Want to discover why hemp makes the best underwear? Shop Magi today.
Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-hemp-seed-oil
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/business/hemp-construction-buildings.html
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018E3SWC..5103002M/abstract