Fair Hemp — Coming Clean with Organic Cotton
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 06.25.06
It’s something that I have long thought indicated either naivety or hypocrisy. Companies selling ‘hemp’ clothing in the ubiquitous blend of 55% hemp and 45% traditional cotton. Their promotional material often touts the environment benefits of hemp over cotton, yet nearly half of their garments are made from the very same cloth they demonise. So it’s pleasing to see Fair Hemp stepping up to the plate and offering clothing with a blend of 55% organically grown hemp and 45% certified organic cotton. Moving on from wristbands, the company are making a line of men’s and women’s fitted Ts dyed with eco-friendly reactive dyes, and softened with a natural enzyme. Another cool move is to remove those itchy labels from the neck seam. According to Fair Hemp “switching to 5 men's hemp/organic cotton t-shirts saves approximately 1 pound of agricultural chemicals and over 600 gallons of fresh water compared to what goes into a 100% cotton t-shirt.” ::Fair Hemp, via PRWeb.
Oh I know!!! The only hemp/cotton blends I can find have conventional cotton. I've asked my suppliers about this.. and supposedly there's been talk amonsg themselves regarding this very issue.
Why bother with the cotton?
Some months ago I bought a hat from Fair Hemp that is 55% Hemp and 45% recycled PET, which is now my primary hat, and is softer and more comfortable that the one it replaced. I'm pretty sure that the PET is mostly or all in the bill. When I decide to buy hemp, I want hemp, not a blend, because "Fifty percent of all pesticides are used on cotton, yet cotton uses only 1% of the farmland in the U.S!" While hemp "is 4 times softer than cotton, 4 times warmer, 4 times more water absorbent, has 3 times the strength of cotton, is many times more durable, is flame retardant, and doesn't use pesticides." or herbacides, for that matter.
Source: http://www.jackherer.com/
As I remember, cotton fibers are 3/4 of an inch long, while hemp fibers run the entire lenght of the plant, which can be 16 feet or more, so that explains the strength. To support my comment on herbacide, "A dense and shady crop, hemp tends to choke out weeds," same source. The rest I cannot back up.
Please note that this post started in my head as an honest question; Why blend? What does cotton have to offer?
Dennis, it's the short fibres in cotton that lend a hemp/cotton blend a degree of softness. And before softening was achieved with enzyme washes this was most welcome. It also reduces the cost. (Hemp is harder to process, and has a tiny market presence, and economy of scale, compared to cotton.) The hemp/cotton blends are mostly from China. Flax (linen) is a fibre often blended with hemp from Romania.
PET is a form of polyester and can be cut to any desired length, often short, to make for softer 'intimate' blends with already short natural fibres. Hemp/PET is excellent for durability, but confuses the product afterlife, as it is neither easily recyclable, nor 100% compostable.
Patagonia, who've just celebrated 10 years of using organic cotton state, "Fully 10 percent of all agricultural chemicals in the United States are used to produce cotton, grown on just one percent of all major agricultural land." While Jack Herer must be credited with reviving interest in industrial hemp, his enthusiasm was, at times unbridled, shall we say.
So while hemp can do many amazing things, it is part of the solution, not the sole answer.
Recycled PET is reclaimed from soda bottles and made into polyester thread. Though it may not completely degrade in a landfill what it does do is save 60% of the energy needed to create virgin poly as well as create a market for the recycled product. Also when blended with hemp it creates a hat that will last for years and years and look good the entire time. This is much better than replacing a worn out cotton hat every year that does not even offer adequate protection from UV rays after just a few weeks in the sun.
In the future there will be more 100% hemp, but it is a matter of research. Much material exists about hemp, but is often rare and so it gets ignored. Here in the UK BioRegional is working with Leeds University and Cranfield University to develop enzyme retting and green decortication.The Canadians have been trying similar ideas for years. Both countries can grow hemp legally.
The truth of the matter is that it may be some time before hemp is produced as well as it was in the past, and it has been proven that climate has something to do with it, a more even climate producing a more even fibre.
Some hemp is better than no hemp, so while we work on improving the situation, the 55% hemp shirts are doing a lot of good, and money spent on them is money put towards research.
In the meantime, we ought to be using hemp fibres, including the hurds, to make paper. This is easier and money can be made on this as we save trees. I encourage anyone to put pressure on your government to get this done.
One hand washes the other, and if we were to take the path of least resistance now and get hemp paper made, there would be more awareness and support for the hemp textile industry.
BTW, in the UK and Ireland, a new organisation, called the British Isles Hemp and Natural Fibres Industries Association, has recently started, open both to UK/Irish citizens/residents and hempsters abroad, as associate members.
Information will be posted at the www.hempforvictory.blogspot.com site as to joining and events, a website is under construction and an internet newsletter, along with one on hemp paper, will be produced.
The hemp industry, working together, is a key for a better future.