Can Industrial Hemp Save the Forests of the World?

Industrial hemp could very well be the crop that saves the forests of the world. When one looks at a tree alongside a hemp stalk, it seems unlikely that one could be used for the same purposes of the other. However, hemp is better suited for the many uses of trees than the trees themselves, with the exception of plank timber.

Nearly four billion trees are cut down each year for the purpose of making paper products. Thirty-five percent of the total trees harvested in the world are used for this purpose. If we estimate that each acre of forest land can produce an average of two hundred viable trees for papermaking, then each year twenty million acres of forests are cut down to fuel the world's need for paper products. This area is cumulatively about the size of South Carolina. Remember that this chunk of forests is being harvested each year to fuel paper products, and that trees do not grow in a single season like farm crops. Also, forests provide much of the earth's natural habitats and erosion controls. Decimating forests has grave ecological consequences, and papermaking is expediting that process.

Hemp on the other hand, could vastly reduce our dependence on trees for paper. Trees have a relatively low cellulose content (the component necessary for papermaking) of around thirty percent. Tree paper is also not as long lasting as many alternative paper products and requires intensive bleaching from many toxic agents. Industrial hemp is about seventy percent cellulose and lasts much longer than paper made from trees. Data reveals that one acre of hemp can yield as much usable fiber for papermaking as four acres of trees. Trees are technically renewable resources but are not particularly sustainable due to the fact that they take decades to reach desired maturity. Industrial hemp crops on the other hand can grow in a mere ninety days, allowing for two and even three crops in a year. So, if we combine the figures of productivity and crop yields, it would only take one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half million acres of hemp to yield the amount of fiber for yearly paper demand. Hemp can be grown in all fifty states, so each state would only need to devote around forty thousand acres to producing hemp for the sole purpose of papermaking. That's only a hundred and sixty square kilometers per state in order to shoulder the burden of the entire world's paper use. To better put this into perspective, that amount of land is equal to about five percent of the total surface area of Rhode Island, the smallest US state.

Much of the harvested trees throughout the world are not made directly into boards for use in carpentry. Instead, the fibers are flattened and mashed together to create what we know as plywood. However, plywood is only as strong as the fibers it contains and much of that strength is determined by the length of the fibers. Wood fibers measure only a few inches at most, and that limitation therefore reduces the overall tensile strength of plywood. You may have noticed that large pieces of plywood bend and warp when subjected to heavy weights and splinter easily. Hemp on the other hand has very long fibers, and the fibers themselves are the strongest naturally occurring fibers in the world. So, a combination of long and very strong fibers allows industrial hemp to form the bulk of very strong ply-board. These boards do not need to be as thick as tree-based plywood in order to accept the same kind of weights. Furthermore, the length of the hemp fibers reduces the chances of splintering and shearing of the material under stress. The part of the hemp plant used to create ply-board is called the hurd, which accounts for seventy percent of the stalk. The use of industrial hemp ply-board in construction could help to reduce the numbers of trees cut down for that purpose each year.

Many trees are cut down for marginal purposes, such as creating woodchips and mulch. Does it really make sense to cut down an entire tree to create a mass of tiny particles that rot easily and need regular replacement? Industrial hemp hurd has been found to make excellent chips and mulch. It is much more absorbent than wood and can thus last much longer without becoming soggy. Hurd chips make ideal bedding for animals and also for mulch used for landscaping and gardening.

Trees still serve a valuable purpose. In terms of lumber cut straight from trees, there is really no substitute unless you use metal which is much heavier and costlier. However, the fact remains that too many trees are being cut down each year to meet the world's industrial demand. Hemp is a perfectly viable alternative to many uses of trees, and in many cases superior. Easy to grow and incredibly versatile, there is a very good chance that hemp will be the agent that eventually saves the forests of the world. Or at least, we can hope so.