Environmental benefits of hemp
Industrial hemp has many environmental benefits
Hemp is good for the planet, and it might just save it.
Henry Ford wrote, “Why use the forests which were centuries in the making and
the mines which required ages to lay down if we can get the equivalent of
forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the fields?”
Hemp is good for the planet and has many environmental benefits and when your friends
ask you exactly how hemp is saving the world, then you can quote any of the reasons we’ve
listed for you here:
1. Hemp breathes in Co2
Hemp is basically nature’s purifier. The plant rapidly captures carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere, through natural photosynthesis, as it grows and makes what we breathe much
cleaner. In fact, for every tonne of hemp produced, 1.63 tonnes of carbon is removed from the
air, which makes hemp an effective sequester of carbon dioxide.
2. Hemp regenerates the soil
The stem and leaves of the hemp plant are jam-packed with nutrients. As the plant matures
and the seed grows, leaf matter falls to the ground and decomposes replenishing the soil with
goodness ready for the next crop, another environmental benefit of hemp. Farmers all over the
world rejoice – this means richer, cleaner soil
3. Hemp supports sustainable farming
Hemp is an annual crop which grows to maturity within just four months of being planted
reaching up to 4 metres in height. Weeds cannot compete and are smothered. It’s an ideal
crop for a sustainable farming rotation, yet another environmental benefit of hemp.
4. Hemp helps against pesticides
A crop of hemp, unlike other natural fibres such as cotton, it doesn’t require any pesticides or
herbicides to grow, just plant food and water.
5. Hemp prevents soil erosion
The roots of the hemp plant grow strong and up to nine feet deep. These root networks can
help to hold the soil together and prevent erosion, which is one of the greatest problems facing
farmers today. In some cases, the environmental benefit of hemp is that it has even restored
soil that was already damaged. It’s the real deal.
6. Hemp needs little water
Hemp has the miraculous ability to irrigate itself naturally, which means it does not require vast
amounts of water to grow. This sets hemp apart from other natural fibre plants like cotton
which are very thirsty indeed. Hemp needs approximately half as much land and half as much
water as cotton does to thrive.
7. Hemp absorbs toxic metals
Hemp can also eliminate harmful toxins by absorbing them. Famously, using a process called
phytoremediation, the plant was used following the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl to
harmlessly extract toxins and pollutants from the soil and groundwater and has even been
considered for removing radiation from Fukushima.
8. Hemp provides a habitat for wildlife
Number eight is all about the birds and the bees. Our second last environmental benefit of
hemp is because hemp plants can grow fast and tall, in fact up to four metres high, which
makes them an excellent hiding place for wildlife and when hemp flowers bloom they are a
good pollen source for bees. Birds feast on the insects that live within the hemp crops.
9. Hemp can help in the fight against deforestation
Scientists fear for the future of the rainforest but there is hope in hemp. While trees take years
to mature, hemp can be grown in just four months. Harvesting hemp rather than trees would
also eliminate erosion due to logging, thereby reducing topsoil loss and water pollution caused
by soil runoff.
10. Nothing goes to waste with hemp
Did you know that hemp can be used to produce over 25,000 products?
That means that absolutely nothing goes to waste with this plant.
Another miraculous environmental benefit of hemp; once harvested the seed is used to produce healthy food
products and cooking oil, the flowers and leaves can be used to make beauty products (currently
not permitted in the UK) the woody core (shiv) is used for animal bedding or sustainable
construction and natural fibre is used for textiles. All the bits left are made into briquettes for