Top 20 Products You Never Thought You Could Make it from Hemp and Cannabis
It may come as a surprise to many people today that hemp, a species of the Cannabis plant, has many industrial and even culinary uses. Increasing awareness of the benefits of these versatile substances plays a major role in ending the stigma that has surrounded the once-controversial plant.
So let us now look at some uses of cannabis and how we can benefit from these uses.
1-Fuel
Hemp can be used to produce fuel that can serve as an alternate source of energy. Hemp fuel can be a very environmentally friendly and cost effective fuel. It can be used to produce ethanol and biodiesel. Hemp fuel can be used to slowly phase out fossil fuels with hemp based fuel products and other renewable sources of energy. It must also be kept in mind that hemp can be grown unlike fossil fuels which are simply present under the surface of the earth and therefore bound to run out in future. Hemp however can be grown and thus be an almost infinite source of energy, if cultivated appropriately.
2-Paper Products
Hemp fibre can be used to create paper products with an efficiency that can be far greater than the efficiency of paper manufacturers at present. Currently we make paper from wood and wood takes a lot of time to grow. Protected forests need to be planted where plants are left to mature into trees before they can be used for paper. This makes the whole process cumbersome and inefficient in terms of time, space and cost. Furthermore wood based paper can only be recycled three times whereas hemp based paper products can be recycled seven times, with greater productive efficiency. It really is a surprise why we do not already use hemp based papers, given the fact that this step can save a lot of trees, as hemp can be cultivated faster.
3-Plastic
It may sound surprising but hemp can also be used to create plastic which can be just as reliable as the current oil based plastic products. Furthermore hemp based plastic is biodegradable which means that it can be buried under earth and therefore contribute towards composting.
4-Ink and Paints
Another great use for hemp oil is that it can be used to create non toxic ink and paints. Traditionally inks are made from soy based compounds, hemp can provide an alternative to ink producers that is cost effective because hemp based ink products require less processing as compared to soy based ink products. In addition to this hemp based ink products dry faster, thereby making it easier to work with.
5-Carpets
This may sound ridiculous but hemp can actually be used to make carpets. Hemp fibre as discussed above has various uses and one of its uses is in the manufacturing of carpets. Carpets that are currently made from synthetic fibre are not that good for health as they trap dust and allergens, hemp based carpets have been proven to be less harmful as they do not trap the same volume of dust and allergens. On top of it the carpets are completely biodegradable, which means that once they are discarded, they can simply be buried in the ground to help with composting instead of adding to pollution and rubbish.
6- Mulch
Goes without saying that hemp mulch can be used to provide insulation to plants from the elements of weather and in addition to this hemp mulch can make the soil richer for the plants to grow in.
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7- Fibre
Hemp fibre has been mentioned above but it is important to mention it as a separate product because it really is a separate product. It is stronger and softer than the current king of fibre that is cotton. Hemp can also increase productive capacity because a single acre of hemp cultivation can produce twice or thrice as much fibre, as cotton cultivated in the same area.
In addition to this there are other benefits of cultivating hemp for cotton and other fibre based products. Cotton crops require extensive usage of pesticides and herbicides thereby adding a hazard to farming, hemp on the other hand does not require any pesticide of herbicide. Hemp also uses much less water as compared to cotton, so if more hemp is cultivated for fibre it can reduce the demand for water for agricultural uses.
8-Fiberboard
Hemp based fiberboard is better in every aspect as compared to wood based fiber board. Shifting over to hemp based fiberwood will speed up environmental conservation efforts and will also result in the production of more sturdy and efficient fiberboards.
9- Alternative For Soybean
Hemp can literally replace soy beans. Every usage of soybeans can be shifted to hemp because the hemp seed contains a protein that is not only similar to the protein contained by soybeans but actually more beneficial.
10- Skin Products
Hemp seed oil can be used to create skin products that are natural and work better than the inorganic skin products. Hemp seed oil contains essential nutrients such as vitamins, amino acids and antioxidants, thus hemp oil can be used to treat acne, clear pores and also as an anti aging ointment/cream.
11- Nail Polish
As discussed above, hemp can be used to create hemp based ink and paint. The hemp based paints can therefore also be used to create natural nail polish that does not carry any of the harmful chemicals present in nail polish. Instead the essential nutrients present in hemp oil help improve nail health.
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12- Shampoo
Hemp oil can also be used to make organic to leave your hair looking fresh and healthy because of all the essential nutrients present in hemp oil.Hemp oil is not only good for hail but can also reduce hair loss, the added advantage is that it does not carry the harmful chemicals that are present in most of the hair products.
13- Chocolates
Hemp is an edible plant and it can therefore be added to chocolates to make hemp chocolates. The trick is to simply add hemp seeds to chocolates to make chocolates even better.
14- Flour
On its own hemp flour does not have the right consistency but it can be mixed with any other flour in a roughly one to four ratio to achieve good consistency. Hemp based flour contains all the nutrients present in hemp and it is also beneficial for people suffering from gluten intolerance.
15- Animal Food
If hemp is edible and good for humans then it surely is good for animals as well. Hemp based food can be used to feed livestock in a more healthy and nutritious manner. The current feed of livestock is corn based but the biggest downside of corn based feed is that livestock cannot digest it without antibiotics, thereby adding something that is completely unnecessary. One has to wonder about the nutritional value of corn if animals cannot digest it without antibiotics.The problem is that mafias running different industries will try everything within their power to prevent hemp which is a more nutritional alternative from becoming more mainstream.
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16- Hemp Milk
Hemp seeds can be used to produce milk. Simply soak the seeds and ground them in water to produce hemp milk. Hemp milk is good for those with dairy allergy in particular those with lactose intolerance. Hemp milk does not contain any dairy product and is rich with essential nutrients such as vitamins, iron and folic acid.
17- Hemp Butter
Hemp butter can be produced from hemp seeds in a manner similar to producing hemp milk. It once again does not have any dairy product and therefore is good for people with dairy allergy. It has a very distinct flavor and it is rich in essential nutrients.
18- Hemp Batteries
These batteries are the natural alternative for graphene based batteries. Even hemp waste can be converted into super capacitors that are more efficient than graphene in both performance and cost. Hemp supercapacitors have 200% the capacity of graphene batteries.
They are also better than lithium batteries when it comes to performance. It can therefore replace both graphene and lithium in a more environmentally friendly manner.
19- Protein
Protein is mainly found in meat but then how can non vegetarians fulfill their requirement of protein? Well hemp based protein is one of the most widely used vegetarian protein powders in the world.
20- Hemp Straws
Hemp straws can be used as a simple and environmentally friendly alternative of protein straws that do not decompose and add to environmental pollution. People unaware about hemp straws look for expensive iron straws when they have cheaper and more environmentally friendly hemp straws.
There are even more uses of cannabis but the twenty products listed above are enough to prove that hemp is a multi purpose crop. A paradigm shift is slowly occurring where these uses are being recognised for their real value and more and more people are shifting over to them.
Main Image Source : Pixabay
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