Archive for October, 2008

Hemp Seeds in Lotion

Oct 30, 2008 Products

Hemp seeds offer a number of health benefits, and healthy people often make for better looking people. It’s no surprise, then, that hemp seeds are also used in skin lotions. As the Lotion Source Blog recently explained, the hemp seed’s unique balance of essential fatty acids makes it an excellent thing to use both within and without your body:

Hemp is quite simply, nature’s beauty secret – and the secret is in the seed. Hemp seed oil and extract offer many benefits useful in personal care products. The reason hemp is so effective is largely because of the essential fatty acids (EFAs) it contains. More than 75% of the EFAs in hemp seed oil are poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), known for their excellent emollient and lubricating properties.

Hemp seed oil contains what is considered to be an ideal ratio of Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids- 3:1, perfectly matching the needs of the human body. In addition to the EFAs hemp seed provides, it is also one of The Earth’s richest sources of amino acids. Along with the EFAs, these two components are responsible for keratin formation, the primary protein that gives your hair structural integrity.

Although the main purpose of the blog post seems to be to direct you to the Lotion Source hemp product page, it’s not exactly a puff piece of ad copy. After the above two paragraphs, the article goes on for about another 10 paragraphs on the health benefits of hemp seeds (and how they relate to personal beauty, of course), an then even provides an overview of the how hemp has been used throughout history. Of many of the historical facts it provides, here’s one that even I haven’t heard before:

In 1563 A.D., as part of the economic and military buildup of the time (80 years war), Queen Elizabeth I orders all land owners with 60 acres or more to grow Cannibus or face a £5 fine.

Overall, it’s nice to see a reseller of vanity products taking the time educate their potential customers on the benefits of their products’ ingredients beyond how those ingredients enhance the product that they’re selling. Granted, it obviously fits into Lotion Source’s marketing strategy to educate the consumer and elicit their trust, but it is nonetheless an effort that helps spread awareness about the versatility of this plant. The more that that happens, the more of a market demand is stimulated for hemp products, the more capital investment that hemp production attracts, the sooner the world can start reaping the benefits of replacing many products with much more eco-friendly hemp options.

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Hemp, Fuel, and the Environment

Oct 29, 2008 Environment, Facts

Just last week, we posted about an article in the University of Maryland’s student newspaper, The Retriever Weekly about hemp in American history. Well, it seems that the editor at that student paper have are sympathetic toward the cannabis plant, and have just run another piece. This one looks at the environmental potential of hemp biofuel. The article is called Government should look toward hemp as a viable alternative fuel, and in addition to discussing how hemp can be used to actually produce biofuel, the author also provides an overview of all the other environmental benefits of cultivating the hemp plant en masse:

Hemp Global Solutions researches the use of hemp as a biofuel. They advocate hemp as a “potential solution to some of the major social and environmental challenges of the 21st century.”
[...]
Perhaps one of hemp’s best characteristics is its environmental friendliness. It grows faster than other crops like corn or rice and it comes with the added benefit of improving soil quality where it’s grown. Similarly, it does not need cleared land to grow and is naturally pest resistant, meaning that pesticides are not necessary which would help to ultimately reduce CFCs and nutrient leeching. Furthermore, hemp even kills pests in the soil, further reducing the need for pesticides. Unlike fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide and sulfur into the air, hemp actually converts carbon dioxide back into biomass at an astounding rate. The crop itself is extremely diverse and able to grow in conditions that other biofuel crops cannot. Its drought resistance makes it an ideal crop for farmers in the Midwest and other areas that are so-called “dust bowls.”

Although researchers have been looking at corn as a possible biofuel, hemp is much more productive and cost-effective. One acre of hemp can produce ten times as much methanol as an acre of corn, with an exponentially faster rate of growth. Capable of producing ten tons of biomass per acre in less than four months, hemp would only take six percent of the American land mass to grow enough hemp to completely eliminate our need for fossil fuels. The infrastructure change would not be a problem either, as traditional farming equipment could be used to harvest hemp.

Written by the same author as the article that The Retriever ran last week, this piece also touches on the role that hemp has played throughout US history — from Henry Ford’s famous hemp car to how Congress lifted marijuana prohibition during WW II. This writer just might be someone for the hemp industry to keep an eye. Of course, he might also just be another starry-eyed student who’s bound to grow disenchanted and apathetic once he actually has to start paying taxes and bills. Let’s hope that the former wins out over the latter.

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Hemp for Hounds

Oct 27, 2008 Products

It’s been a pretty slow day in the world of hemp news, but I never thoughts it’d be a dog’s day. In my surfing around the world wide interwebs, the only <i>hemps-up</i> I’ve been able to find was one mention of a hemp-based dog bed, and another of hemp-based dog toys. First, one North Shore News reporter had this tale to tell of her adventure out shopping for a dog bed:

One particular bed caught my eye, it was a basic fleece bed, but the fleece covering was made from recycled plastic water bottles. The sales gal tried to explain how this was possible but I must have looked like a deer caught in the head lights as she stopped mid sentence and said… “Maybe we should look at the hemp beds instead.”

Yes there are beds made of hemp fibre that are durable and eco-friendly, as well as a completely organic cotton bed that is filled with some sort of cotton fibre from an ancient tree in Botswana. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of these beds apparently goes back to the villagers who pick this cotton-like substance. (Where have I been for so many years? . . . Oh right, shopping in Costco!)

So it seems that (wo)man’s bestfriend is also able to reap the benefits of one of the most sustainable natural resources in existence. But it doesn’t stop here. There are also these hemp dog toys from Uncommongoods.com:

Just because your dog doesn’t care what he puts in his mouth doesn’t mean you shouldn’t! Let your pup sink his teeth into these eco-friendly squeaky chew toys made with naturally durable hemp plant fiber and natural dyes from plants and minerals. Made with a low-eco impact, the owl and elephant are certified non-toxic, chemical-free, saliva resistant and have a reduced allergy level.

So it looks like you don’t have to be a bi-ped to benefit from the, er, benefits of industrial hemp. In fact, this is just the kind diverse consumer portfolio that hemp needs to help push it into both mainstream production and cultivation. If more people were made aware of its many uses, then there’d be sufficient incentive (i.e. investment) to get it out of the periphery of commercialization and into the mainstream where it can do the planet and the economy the good that it has the potential do to.

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Hemp CEO is Offered Stock Options

Oct 25, 2008 News, Press Release

A few days ago, we post about how a company called Naturally Advanced Technologies (NAT) was conducting industrial hemp trials on the bulk commercialization of hemp. The point of the trials is to determine the best ways to bring their patented CRAILAR® Organic Fiber into the apparel and pulp & paper markets.

Well, to reward theri CEO, Kenneth C. Barker, for setting up the partnerships necessary to get these trials underway, NAT is now offering Barker stock options. As the press release reports:

PORTLAND, OR, Oct 23, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. (NADVF), a pioneer in commercializing the use of bast fibers including industrial hemp for use in casual apparel, performance yarns, industrial filters and absorbent pulp and paper products, granted a stock option to purchase up to 500,000 shares in the capital of NAT at an exercise price of US$1.45 per share to Kenneth C. Barker, NAT’s Chief Executive Officer. Press release notice of this grant falls under standard compliance requirements of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Miljenko Horvat, Chairman of the board, stated, “We have an extremely talented management team and it is our policy to employ stock options as incentive. This year Ken has led the team in efforts that culminated in two significant milestones: CRAILAR(R) trials for Organic Fibers with a leading U.S. apparel brand and CRAILAR(R) trials for Advanced Materials with one of North America’s largest pulp and paper producers. We look forward to management driving to commercialization with the goal of establishing commercial partnerships.”

The stock option is dated October 14, 2008 and is subject to an 18 month vesting schedule under the terms and conditions of NAT’s existing fixed share option plan. The options carry a three year term and expire on October 14, 2011.

What this means is that, until October 14, 2011, Barker will be able to purchase as many as 500,000 stocks in NAT for only $1.45 USD each. Although stock in NAT is currently only worth $1.45 USD per share, it can go up, and if it does, Barker won’t have to pay more than $1.45 USD a share. So if NAT stock rises to $3.00 a share, Barker can buy as many as half a million shares for only $1.45, and then turn around a sell those share and more than double his money.

All in all, Barker has quite the incentive to keep up his seemingly good work at NAT, and continue to find ways to bring industrial hemp products to market. It will be interesting, then, when the NAT trials conclude in a few weeks, and we start to get an idea of just how much potential NAT’s hemp-based products have in a bulk commercial market (not to mention how much of a rich man Barker stands to become).

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Hemp Bedding

Oct 23, 2008 Press Release

An Oregon design studio has just launched a new line of bedding, and it’s made from hemp. This new line of bedding was inspired by an increasing demand for sustainable interior design products. As the press release states:

PORTLAND, OREGON — Sue Augustyn Interior Design (SAID), a full-service design studio and retail showroom, today announced the launch of its new exclusive line of hemp bedding. The duvet covers (available in full/queen and king sizes) feature a simple, custom design and a clean look for the bedroom, all made from environmentally friendly fibers. The bedding is complemented by a line of hemp roman shades.

“Our customers are looking for specially designed products that are also good for the planet,” said Sue Augustyn, principal of SAID. “Hemp provided the perfect canvas for creating our new line of bedding. By coupling this crisp, ‘green’ fabric with subtle design touches, anyone can create a room where they can actually feel good about going to sleep at night.”

Hemp is a fast growing crop with a high fiber yield that doesn’t require the use of pesticides. It also is beneficial to the soil as it suppresses weed growth, replenishes the earth with nutrients and nitrogen, controls the erosion of topsoil and actually can clean up toxins from the ground itself. In addition to its outstanding environmental benefits, hemp is strong, durable and resistant to mold and ultraviolet light.

It’s interesting (and encourging) to see an industry as vain as design taking a look at more sustainable materials such as hemp. I can’t help but wonder what kind of dyes (or other chemicals) are going into making this bedding more appealing to suburban-bourgeois types who need to feel eco-friendly because the environment happens to be in vogue at the moment.

You can learn more about Sue Augustyn Interior Design on their website.

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House Made of Hemp

Oct 23, 2008 News

A British company named BRE is organizing a building a construction conference for June, 2009, and it looks like the event is going to feature a house made of hemp. As Building.co.uk reports:

A house made from hemp and a dwelling by the Prince’s Foundation will be among the star attractions at the BRE’s Insite event in June 2009.

The event, called Insite 09: Constructing the Future, will include a building exhibition, a topical conference programme and an interactive indoor demonstration. The event aims to showcase the latest developments in design, technology, materials and building techniques.

In addition to a hemp house to demonstrate the benefits of renewable fuels and materials, the Innovation Park will include the Prince’s Foundation’s ‘natural house’, a sustainable home built from natural materials, as well as a health centre.

It makes perfect sense to see hemp being used as a construction material at a conference that’s exploring the use of renewable fuels and materials. Hempcrete, for example, is not just easier on the environment than the mining and chemicals production that goes into concrete. It can also be up to seven times stronger than concrete, weighs half as much, and is three times as elastic.

For more information on this building and construction event, check out the Insite09 page.

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Minor Drop for Hemp Industry

Oct 21, 2008 News

Not surprisingly, it seems that the hemp industry will suffer from the recession. Coming out of the Hemp Industries Association annual conference, economists have predicted a slight drop for the month of September. As the Boston Herald reports:

The Hemp Industries Association continues its 15th annual convention at Boston’s Best Western Roundhouse Suites. The group is sharing data about expanding markets and mapping out plans to bring back hemp farming.

The Conference Board releases its index of leading indicators for September, and economists expect a drop of 0.1 percent.

Now, granted, a 0.1% drop seems negligible, but you have to keep two things in mind:

  1. 1) Industrial sectors are supposed to yield perpetual growth rates to be successful. This is a fundamental tenet of a growth economy. In fact, a business or sector has to grow at least at the same rate of inflation (another fundamental tenet of a growth economy) just to be stagnant.
  2. 2) The recession hasn’t even really begun to penetrate all sectors.

Given that the hemp sector is already anticipating a drop (albeit minute), things aren’t looking that great. Overall, the recession isn’t going to be good for most sectors, but my guess is that the hemp sector will suffer more than other consumer product sectors. After all, hemp products are still mostly a luxury or niche good, and their pricing isn’t that competitive with non-hemp counterparts because the technology necessary to process hemp has developed at an equal rate (due to legislative disincentives). Most hemp products sold, then, will likely be either (a) consumed by die-hard hempsters, or (b) as non-recurring splurge buys.

Part of the irony of all this, however, is that the type of economy (i.e. a sustainable one) that would include energy efficient and eco-friendly products such as those made from hemp, would pretty much preclude the kind of economic crisis currently underway. Not to say that hemp would solve all our economic problems, but rather that the kind of economic mindset that it takes to seriously invest in hemp technologies is largely conterminous with the kind of mindset that eschews the pitfalls of a growth economy.

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Hemp in American History

Oct 21, 2008 Facts

University of Maryland’s student newspaper, The Retriever Weekly has just run a story called A Brief History of Marijuana Laws Across America. The piece provides an overview of how both industrial hemp and its narcotic counterpart (not the same plant) were used throughout American history, and in doing so, shows how a struggle to outlaw the latter debilitated the cultivation of the latter. An excerpt:

Hemp (cannabis sativa) was first planted in America by Puritans in the 16th century. In the 17th century, the U.S. government encouraged farmers to grow hemp to be used for ropes, sails, and clothes. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Ben Franklin all grew hemp and were proponents of its usefulness. The Constitution was even drafted by Thomas Jefferson on paper made from hemp.[...]

The fear created by sensational news stories [in the 1920s and 1930s] led to the proposal of the “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.” Introduced by the “drug czar” Harry Anslinger, the act levied a modest tax on people who grew and sold hemp or cannabis. Although the tax was not significant, the regulations were complicated and a violation could be punished by five years in prison and a $2,000 fine. This discouraged the production of hemp and cannabis. Before the act, there were about 15,000 square kilometers of hemp being grown in America. Two years afterwards, the number decreased significantly to 1,700 square kilometers.

Overall, the original piece is a short and interesting read. Where it please for reform, however, is on the basis of what marijuana law enforcement costs taxpayers, rather than what industrial hemp could do for the economy, the environment, and the human race as a whole.

You see, legally distinguishing between the two plants can be done, and is done effectively in countries such as Canada and France. Where pro-hemp lobbyists should be starting from, then, is the economic and industrial potential of hemp — such as the HIA does in its efforts.

There is still too much stigma around the cannabis plant to reasonably expect both hemp and marijuana to be jointly legalized and regulated. By distinguishing the two, however, people and the economy can begin to start benefiting from, well, the benefits of industrial hemp.

For those who really want to see the decriminalization of psycho-active marijuana, after a generation has grown up eating, wearing, and burning industrial hemp products, there chances will probably be a lot better. After all, once the population (and their elected legislators) get used to how innocuous industrial hemp is, they might be willing to reconsider the regulated use of its psycho-active cousin.

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