Hemp as a textile – high fashion of the future

What are the environmental costs of a cotton t-shirt? In some parts of the world it is 2.7,000 liters of water, 1.2 pounds of fossil fuels, 0.1 pounds of pesticides, and 0.2 pounds of fertilizer. That’s just for the manufacture and transport of just one cotton t-shirt. If you dig deep into the numbers, you will find that a person will be kept adequately watered for a whopping 2.5 years. And to think that large parts of the world are still suffering from drought and that water is becoming a rare commodity day by day. Obviously, other more sophisticated textiles and elaborate types of clothing require significantly higher environmental costs.

Can hemp improve our ecological footprint?

In the current environmental context, this is simply not acceptable. But in reality it gets worse. From 2000 to 2014, clothing sales increased by 60 percent. In addition, the lifespan of a single piece of clothing has been cut in half. So while it is easy to blame high fashion for its costly environmental footprint, the need of the hour is a potential solution, not just a blame game. In this context one can turn to an ancient and forgotten form of textile – the hemp fiber.

As the term hemp fiber is used in professional circles, industrial hemp is extracted from the outer phloem of the sativa variety of cannabis plants. While both hemp and marijuana are made from cannabis sativa, the former contains only 1 percent THC. For comparison: the latter jumps to 20 percent.

The fiber that you get from the plant has several remarkable properties. It is easy to color, conducts heat well, is resistant to powdery mildew, blocks the sun’s UV rays and also has significant antibacterial properties. Many industries have already recognized the potential of resuscitating tissue, such as:

• paper
• construction
• Biodegradable plastic
• To eat healthy food
• It is used to clean fuel and chemicals
• And even the automotive industry uses the fiber as a door panel reinforcement because of its strength

An age-old solution

Hemp is obviously nothing new to humans. It has been consumed by humans since the Chinese Neolithic, and cannabis was actually one of the very first domesticated plants. Its use was widespread among ancient Indians, Chinese, and Egyptians. The fabric’s popularity continued well into the Middle Ages and early modern times. People found new and new ways to use industrial hemp. European sailors, for example, used it as a fabric for ropes and sails. In addition, some of the most famous artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn used canvases made from the material. We can rave about hemp rendezvous with history as the list goes on. Unfortunately, the Industrial Revolution made cotton cheaper and more efficient, reducing the popularity of hemp as a fiber. But no one knew that its short-term efficiency could result in such severe environmental costs.

In view of the ongoing global environmental crisis, we will soon have to turn to sustainable fibers. The faster this transformation, the better for life on earth. And when we talk about the options we have right now, hemp is a familiar textile that we can use to shape the future of clothing and apparel. Hemp boats have the rare property of being carbon negative and absorbing CO2 air from their surroundings. It requires 50% less water than today’s cotton and is three times more tear-resistant. In addition, hemp can be easily mixed with other types of fiber. Growing the crops does not drain the soil, means minimal fertilizers and gives the soil back almost three quarters of the nutrient uptake.

Hemp as the fashion of the future

Since the eighties of the last century, hemp is no longer the rough clothing of the early farmers. Scientists can now remove lignin from the fiber without weakening the textile. Therefore, hemp is an excellent substitute for cotton. It’s almost the linen of the 21st century. It is porous, breathable and does not stain easily. In addition, it is characterized by its shape-retaining, UV-blocking and antibacterial properties as an alternative to cotton.

Accordingly, some of the biggest names in the high fashion world such as Ralph Lauren, Armani and Calvin Klein already boast hemp textile-based clothing collections. Even sportswear brands like Patagonia and Nike use it in their sportswear.

Image by Ellen26, courtesy of Pixabay

It’s no longer that we can, but that we have to. It looks like linen, feels like cotton and is the strongest natural fiber. As conscious, conscientious global citizens, we must embrace sustainable textile options before it’s too late!