Why Hemp?

Hemp is carbon negative

Hemp is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. It takes on average, 12 weeks to grow a crop. Hemp is also a carbon negative crop sequestering around 1.2 kg of carbon per one kilo of plant. The European Industrial Hemp Association reports hemp sequesters 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare per crop sown.

Hemp has a long history of cultivation and many uses

Hemp has been grown for thousands of years and used for applications such as paper, clothing, rope and animal feed, but became illegal last century through its association with cannabis plants with high delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC). N.B. We'll only be talking about about industrial hemp here, not cannabis sativa with high THC content.

Hemp as a food

In 2017, the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code was changed to permit low-THC hemp seeds to be sold as food. You can now purchase hemp seed products from your supermarket.

Hemp as a building material

It is estimated that 3 acres of hemp would be enough to build a 150m² home. The stalks of the plant are chopped into pieces (called hurd) and mixed with lime to create "hempcrete". Hempcrete is used in formwork to create walls, flooring and ceilings. It replaces the need for insulation and cladding on buildings.

Hemp fibre is also used as a eco-friendly glass wool insulation replacement in conventional builds.