An Alternative Resource to Save the Planet
Imagine a substance that can be used to produce clean fuel for motors, make biodegradable plastics, and also be used as a key ingredient to greener textiles and industrial pieces. This product is a real thing and it is called hemp. Although hemp and marijuana are similar in many ways, the key difference is that hemp contains less than .3% THC rendering it ineffective as a drug. Hemp has been around for centuries and was possibly one of the first plants to be cultivated due to the vast number of products for which it can be used. The earliest cultivation of hemp goes unrecorded; however the first recordings go back as far as 4000 B.C. in China. Hemp was seen as a heavenly gift in many cultures across the world and was grown in large quantities. The numerous possible applications of hemp actually urged kings and rulers to make it illegal not to grow this crop; even the pilgrims grew hemp!
If this crop has been universally accepted as a good thing for so long, then why is hemp not as important in today’s society? In 1937 the United States government made it illegal to grow this crop due to the attributes hemp and marijuana share. Given that this plant is all but useless as a drug, yet profoundly useful for making bio-fuels, cleaner industrial pieces, and many other necessities like foods and medicine, companies should be encouraged to grow hemp instead of discouraged by the laws against it.
Everyone relies on vehicles in today’s world. Even if someone doesn’t have a car they still rely on the motor vehicles that transport essential goods to them and those vehicles require gasoline that pollutes the environment when burned. Therefore, it would be beneficial to switch to an alternate fuel that burns cleanly such as… you guessed it: hemp! It has shown promise as a fuel and can even replace gasoline if we let it. This will also eliminate the need to drill for crude oils and destroy the environment even further. Instead, because of its ability to grow in practically any soil we can plant hemp all around the world. This will eliminate conflict over areas with large reserves of oil, and cause gas prices to flat line at a more affordable price.
As much as 12.7 million metric tons of plastic is getting dumped in the ocean every year. Common plastics are extremely hazardous to marine life and kill many animals. We need to switch to hemp plastics because they are biodegradable, instead of littering the earth with oil-based plastics. An added benefit to hemp plastics is that they are sturdier and cheaper to make than regular plastics. This begs the question, why do we even use oil based plastics? Furthermore, hemp doesn’t just make plastics, its uses include ropes, canvas, clothes, and many other building materials. Theoretically a house can be made entirely out of hemp which is more resistant to fire, termites, mold, and dry rot.
This versatile plant can even be used medicinally and provide food that is incredibly rich in much-needed vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids. Hemp can be used for practically anything except as a drug and is nonsensically outlawed for that reason alone. Hemp is very useful and should definitely be legalized in order to make cleaner fuels, greener plastics, and healthier people.