Written by Kylie Barling. Source Simply Living no. 81
and one night you will suffocate in your own waste."
These were the words of warning from Indian Chief Seathl to the President of the United States in 1854. Today, our planet (Mother Earth) is in grave danger. Her forests are quickly vanishing, her waters are polluted and her rain full of acid. She is overpopulated and her ozone layer is thinning quickly.
Leading scientists are giving ominous warnings of expanding deserts, rising seas and evaporating lakes if the unbalancing effects of pollution continue. If hemp is not taken seriously by our world governments as a saviour to the environmentwe may just suffocate in our own waste.
Cannabis, hemp, indicia, dope, marijuana, grass, pot and hash, are all words which describe the same plant, cannabis sativa. It has been made illegal through world government policies aimed at eradication, due to its perceived threat to society through use as a drug. However, by eliminating this so-called threat, we have been denied an extremely valuable resource, one that could reverse the increasing environmental decay.
Hemp has been regarded as the most versatile and valuable natural resource avaliable. It contains the longest and strongest fibres in the plant kingdom, grows more in a single season and has the capacity of producing more biomass than any other plant known to man. It is the oldest cultivated crop and can produce anythiing from paper to fuel.
Despite this, hemp is not one of the world's major crops. This is largely due to its alternative use as a drug. However, the strain of cannabis sativa used for fibre production need not contain any of the substance that produces the narcotic effect (THC), when smoked, to warrent it a threat to the community.
In order to reverse the Greenhouse Effect, we need to stop cutting down trees and using fossil fuel. It could replace most fibre now in use in clothing manufacture, could meet all the world's energy needs, reduce pollution and even aid in the control of soil erosion and salinity, as its large tap root helps improve soil structure.
Hemp is a very effecient resource. One acre of land can produce the same amount of paper as can be derived from the destruction of 4.1 acres of forest. Coupled with this, hemp is a renewable crop that is harvested ecery three to four months - compare this to a forest, which takes decades to regenerate. As an added bonus, hemp also requires far fewer chemicals during both cultivation and paper processing than wood pulp.
Australain Democrat Mike Elliot has recently introduced legislation, allowing for the cultivation of hemp to the South Australian parliament. Elliot's reasoning is, "Australia would save more than $1.5 billion annually in the replacement of wood pulp [with hemp] for paper production."
Throughout history, hemp fibres have been used for paper as they provide a stronger, better quality product than that made from wood pulp. Paper made from wood pulp lasts around 75 years, whereas hemp paper may have a shelf life of up to 1,500 years.
Many people are surprised to find that they may already own literature printed on hemp paper. Family heirlooms, such as Bibles and encyclopedias would most likely be made from hemp, as between 75 to 90 per cent of all paper in the world was made from hemp fibre until 1883.
Until the 20th century, 80 per cent of all the world's textiles and fabrics, including the finest quality linen were made from hemp. Hemp is softer, warmer, more water absorbent, three times stronger and more durable than cotton. If hemp was substituted for cotton in Australia today, a major environmental problem could be curbed. The Murray River is suffocating due to the high levels of toxic run off from cotton farms.
As hemp does not require chemical pesticides of fertilisers in its growing process, its production does not pollute the river system. Levis jeans, a well known and still fashionable item of clothing, were originally made from hemp cloth.
It is difficult to understand why the growing of hemp for manufacturing purposesis taking so long to gain approval in Australia. By encouraging individuals to cultivate hemp industries, Australia could gain a lot more respect in the world community, not to mention a large share of the economic market.
To try to re-establish hemp to its rightful place as a major crop, I have established the Environmental Hemp Organisation in Melbourne, VIctoria. I believe that teh only way to reverse the current destruction of the earth is to return to large-scale cultiavtion of hemp fibre. However, due to a narrow minded belief that this valuable resource is a dangerous illicit drug we are being denied the right to cultivate what is, after all, a naturally occurring plant.
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