Environmental Benefits

Why is it so important to make the switch hemp paper? Hemp paper is simply better quality paper and even better for the environment.

Why do we need a greener solution? My wood paper is fine!

Every year, American’s alone consume 735lbs of paper! That’s over 60,000lbs of paper in a life time!!! If that isn't staggering enough, think about how many trees it takes to keep up with such a demand? 1 million trees annually? 100 million? Try 1 billion trees per year!  This is just in America alone. 1 billion trees. This massive amount of deforestation has resulted in the destruction of 70% of America’s forests, 95% of all the virgin growth has been destroyed or cut down and replanted.  

Well what does this mean for me?

This means that over the last 100 years we have destroyed 70% of our forests! This has resulted in 120 billion tons of CO₂  being released into our atmosphere - further accelerating global climate change.  This increased amount of CO₂ being released into the air is nothing compared to the second stage of paper production; the paper mills.

What’s so bad about paper mills?

Paper mills are some of the worst industrial polluters on the planet. In America, paper mills rank #3 in both energy consumption AND in industrial pollution. This equates to 220 million tons of air and water pollution ANNUALLY!

Paper mills are known around the world for their foul, chocking odor but what exactly is it that you are breathing? The mix of sulfides, ammonia and other organic compounds that you breathe from paper mills can cause: nausea, chronic headaches, eye irritation, and asthma in young children (increased irritation in adults). This harmful pollution also intensifies the symptoms of COPD and Emphysema. Even more concerning is the water pollution, 3 million tons of chlorine are dumped into our waterways each year by paper plants. This waste results in the release of the carcinogenic dioxin; dioxin has been shown to cause everything from birth defects and miscarriages to liver failure and cancer. This deadly and toxic chemical is now FOUND IN EVERY WOMAN’S BREAST MILK ON THE PLANET, thanks to industrial pollution.

What makes hemp so much better?

Hemp is one of the greenest industrial plants that we know of and has over 25,000 known uses. The hemp plant produces 4x the amount of paper per hectare compared to trees. Not only will it produce more paper then trees but it also absorbs more CO₂ then trees. Hemp will not only help to reduce our dependence on trees but also begin to reduce the ever growing amount of CO₂  that gets put into our atmosphere. On top of that, to produce hemp paper, there are NO CHEMICALS NEEDED AT ALL!  The entire process from seed to sheet, no pesticides or herbicides while being grown and the paper can be produced without added chemicals to separate the fibers or bleachers to create a white paper.  If this didn't sound like enough evidence to switch, hemp paper is stronger, more absorbent, whiter, and longer lasting then regular wood paper. In fact, the oldest piece of paper EVER is from ancient china and you guessed it, its hemp paper. On top of the longevity of the paper itself, hemp paper can be recycled nearly twice what the standard wood paper can. The long fibers in the hemp plant allow it to be recycled upwards of 7 times before it becomes to worn out.

Well if hemp is so much better, why don’t we use it to make ALL the paper?

To start out, hemp has only been legal to grow in North America sense 1998, and only legal in America starting this year. The hemp industry use to be a booming business back in the early 20^th century and was coined the next billion dollar crop. However, racism and fear ran rampant in America during the middle half of the century and for over the last 70 years hemp has been illegal. The resent lifting of the ban on hemp has caused quite the resurgence in Canada and there is expected to be the same rapid growth here in America.  In addition to the infancy of the industry, hemp paper requires a completely different type of mill to produce the hemp pulp required to make paper. The simple lack of hemp paper mills is the main reason for the lack of hemp paper.