6 Great Uses for the Hemp Plant
Today, industrial hemp is illegal in America. The main reason being that hemp is a miracle plant, it’s plain and simple. Having far more than the 6 uses i’m about to tell you about. In the 1930′s hemp was outlawed when certain elites started to realize that hemp can be turned into oil, and that oil would eventually go on to replace petroleum. Of course they couldn’t let that happen, the oil industry was making too much money, for too many. So they nipped their problem in the bud, they made it illegal, even though most hemp has a measly .03% THC content. However, it is not illegal to buy, sell, or trade hemp, it is only illegal to grow it. Today, it is estimated that almost $11,000,000 of hemp was imported from Canada. This plant is a miracle, our founding fathers grew it, the constitution was even written on hemp paper!
1 The hemp seed is very healthy to eat. It is the only plant that contains all the fatty and amino acids required for the human body. It is packed with protein, minerals, and dietary fiber. A new study showed that when songbirds were fed bird feed, the birds would pick out the hemp seeds. Fishermen can even use it as bait to catch fish!
2 Hemp paper has been made for thousands of years, it is only recently that massive amounts of paper are being made from trees. A field of hemp would take months to regenerate. Where as if you cut down and replant 10 acres of trees, they could take up to 30 years to grow again! If all paper was made from the hemp plant, we could stop the massive deforestation that is taking place throughout the globe.
3 Christopher Columbus sailed to the new world using hemp sails, rigged with hemp rope. The first American flag was made from hemp and it was very popular to make clothing out of it, before the cotton industry gained strength. More than just Columbus’s sails and ropes were made from hemp, it was very important for the navy to use hemp rope, due to its strength, resistance to water damage, and extreme flexibility.
4 Today, most plastic is made through an ugly process involving mass amounts of fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. However, hemp could change all that, seeing as how you can make plastic as good as any from this great plant. Henry Ford even designed a car that was 50-60% hemp material! However cars went on to be made out of steel, and plastic went on to be made out of fossil fuels.
5 For a long time, homesteaders would put hemp oil into their lamps to light up their night, in the 1870′s many began to switch to petroleum based fuels. Hemp oil could replace gasoline completely, and unlike gasoline it is a bio fuel not a fossil fuel. Bio fuels produce less greenhouse gasses when used and are completely renewable. I believe that if growing industrial hemp became legal in the U.S that we would have a fuel revolution overnight.
6 Hemp could also replace would as our primary house building material. It can be used to create shingles, paneling, pipes and even paint! In addition to that, people have designed hemp solutions like Hempcrete and Isochanvre. Theese materials are lightweight, waterproof, fireproof, pest resistant and even self insulating!
So as you can see the hemp plant is incredible and has so many uses you couldn’t count them all. I hope you learned something and please, use the hemp plant to its fullest extent.
