Uses for Hemp - #1 - Plastics

Hemp, which was labelled as the first $Billion dollar crop in the U.S. in 1937 and is potentially the most useful plant on the planet. One of it's greatest potential uses is in making plastics. Using the stalks of the plant, hemp plastic can be used to reinforce standard oil based plastic or can manufactured to be 100% biodegradable.

Hemp plastic is extremely versatile due in part to its strength and it being a fire retardant. It is 5x as stiff and 2.5x stronger than polypropylene plastic and it is recyclable and biodegradable.

In 1937, DuPont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. DuPont’s Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of DuPont’s business. (activistpost.com)

HEMP IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY:

*Over 30 parts on the C-class Mercedes-Benz automobiles are made of natural fibers, including hemp.
*The C-class Mercedes has over 20kg of Hemp in each car!
*Hemp plastic panels are significantly lighter than steel, yet stronger in so many ways!
*Composite Body panels are produced using a mixture of fiberglass, Hemp fiber, kenaf, and flax.
*Car body panels made with hemp can withstand 10x the impact as steel panels!
*Hemp is used in the Auto Industry and found in many of today’s popular Vehicle Models.
*Hemp plastics are a great alternative to petrochemical plastics and great for the environment!
(hemp-solutions.org)

When a global population can allow for such a thing as Pacific Garbage Patch to have formed and to continue to grow larger, new and innovative cultural norms must be implemented. There are now two separate patches having formed of mostly plastics from the petro chemical industry, that do no biodegrade.

In a given year it takes roughly 1.5 million barrels of oil to produce the number of single use drinking water bottles for the U.S. alone. Petroleum Based Plastics revolutionized the world by reducing weight in manufacturing, packaging and transportation. Due to the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which essentially outlawed hemp in the U.S., allowed petro plastic to dominate the industry of plastics, unopposed.

Lastly, hemp needs to be legalized in the U.S. Some states have begun to override the Federal ban on hemp farming, but as a quasi-illicit industry, growing the hemp production to a level of scalability that would allow it to become a viable alternative to the petro plastic, remains to be seen. Production needs to be shifted to a biodegradable alternative to relieve our oceans and landfills of products that will essentially last forever.

The U.S Federal government needs to drop prohibitions to allow for legal production of the plant to begin in earnest. Stop the protectionism for multinational petro chemical companies and allow healthier alternatives to flourish in their place.

Sheeps

Image credits:
marinedebris.noaa.gov
hempwaterbottles.tripod.com
hemp-solutions.org
Sources:
hempwaterbottles.tripod.com
hemp-solutions.org
naturalnews.com