Saving Earth with Hemp Toilet Paper

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Is it too late for me to be saying that? Naaah!

I firmly believe that as long as we are still in January and interacting for the first time, we should start with that. So again, I wish you a Happy New Year people!

It is a new year! Like most people, I have spent part of this first month reflecting on the last year. The main feature being the progression of the pandemic caused by the Corona Virus and I remembered how hard I laughed every single time, I listened to international news updates and there was always talk about the shortage of toilet paper in Europe and the Americas. I can understand if food items and soap are classified as “in shortage” but, toilet paper?! Huh? Why?

Anyway, with the impending lockdown due to a second wave, the COVID-infused shortage piqued my curiosity. I started looking up articles, videos and anything really about toilet paper as we know it and its alternatives. These delivered me to the doorstep of hemp toilet paper and shared enthusiasm for sustainability is why you and I are here. ;)

What is Hemp?
For the average Nigerian, the term ‘hemp’ or ‘cannabis’ is perceived as a bad word which should never be heard in polite company, except in academic discourse. This is because hemp has been generalized as a reference for ‘Indian hemp’ or ‘marijuana’, known by the street names ‘weed’ or ‘igbo’. (I held the same erroneous view until... Let’s just say, thank God for access to research, HALLELUJAH!).

Hemp AKA cannabis of the family Cannabaceae is a tall, stiff-stemmed, flowering plant indigenous to Asia with three subspecies: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis. The term ‘Cannabis’, in its proper sense, are the leaves, seeds, and oils of the hemp plant used for recreation and medicine while ‘hemp’ is the term for the cannabis varieties grown for non-drug purposes. The fundamental difference between ‘cannabis’ and ‘hemp’ is the level of tetrahydrocannnabinol (THC) present. THC is a compound with psychoactive properties that are highest in the medicinal variant of Cannabis which can cause an increased appetite, anxiety, paranoia or a decrease in mental and physical coordination.

Hemp also refers to the durable soft fibres gotten from the subspecies Cannabis Sativa. These fibres are even stronger and more durable than cotton. For thousands of years, many commercial products were from hemp fibres including paper, textiles, foodstuff, construction materials, clothing and even biofuels. The first commercially produced toilet paper (1847 in New York) was hemp-based.

The process of producing toilet paper from hemp, wood and bamboo is very similar. Plant fibres get pulpified; the pulp is bleached clean, then it is flattened and dried into the single, double or multiple sheets that make the rolls of ply in toilet paper. However, wood and bamboo fibres are different from hemp because they are hardwoods that require extensive chemical processing.

Now to the big question...

Is Hemp Toilet Paper a Sustainable Alternative?

Using the definition of sustainable development from the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) as a reference point, one can describe sustainability as, "anything that helps meet current needs without, compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". To give a thorough answer, we will examine some common concerns with the paper industry.

    For the longest time, tree wood toilet paper has remained number one based on assumptions that the alternatives were too coarse/hard. While this may be true for bamboo fibres, it does not apply to hemp whose fibres are so fine-textured, that they make naturally softer toilet paper. Wood and bamboo fibres are so hard that they are made supple with chemicals during production.

    Did you know that?

-     No less than 270,000 trees are cut down every day to meet the demand for toilet paper?

-     It takes some of those trees 20-years to complete a single growth cycle?

Yet again, hemp wins on both counts. Not only is harvest in four to five months, one acre of hemp is equivalent to 4 acres of trees amounting to three times more cellulose fibres than the pulp from wood. The cultivation of hemp is also naturally sustainable - the farming methods used do not drain soil nutrient while the speedy decomposing of any leftover leaves puts much-needed nutrients into the soil.

    Turning plant fibres into pulp causes it to change colour. The resulting brown colour is due to the substance, lignin; it is treated with bleach to get the conventional white coloured paper. Lignin is present in wood and hemp pulp, but it is much lower in hemp. So while hemp fibres will require fewer chemicals, wood pulp is treated with large amounts of sulphur-based acid and chlorine bleach that produces dioxin.

    The fewer chemicals used in the production of hemp toilet paper makes it biodegradable. Some might argue that all toilet paper is biodegradable but conventional toilet paper takes significantly more time and water to breakdown while still leaching toxins from its chemical processing into the environment. Good-grade hemp products are so environmentally safe that they are compostable.

More benefits of Hemp Toilet Paper

1. They are more durable and five times more absorbent.

2. Fertilizers and herbicides are not needed to grow hemp.

3. The 500 natural compounds and bioactive components in hemp naturally combat bacteria in UTIs, allergic reactions and yeast infections. Hemp is resistant to fungi and mildew.

4. Paper made from hemp can be recycled seven times, while the wood paper is recycled three times.

5. Cellulose, the main ingredient in paper, is 55-70% of the hemp plant, meaning there is more material, weight-for-weight than the 40-45% cellulose available in trees.

6. Cultivating hemp will reduce the number of forests destroyed in the world and reduce the negative impacts of deforestation on animal habitats.

7. The waste from hemp is biomass that is very useful for making other back-end products.

Are there limitations?

The switch from wood to hemp will be a costly one, for the industry itself and its consumers.

Changing tried and tested methods, investing time and capital in new systems, and paying a little extra for the hemp alternative may be a sacrifice existing businesses and consumers are not willing and ready to make. Not yet anyway.

Also, the supply of hemp is still below demand. With the strict restrictions placed on the cultivation and distribution of hemp by many countries and the stiff competition for raw materials from the textile industry, there is not enough hemp for the commercial production of toilet paper.

Conclusion

Hemp is a serious game-changer in the journey to sustainable development.

Toilet paper is a staple in the average home; it is a perfect place to start effecting changes aimed at a more sustainable lifestyle. Hemp toilet paper is softer, stronger, more absorbent, antibacterial and environmentally safer than conventional toilet paper, but very few companies worldwide are currently in commercial production. On the side of economics, the immense possibilities available in the regulated cultivation of hemp can be a much-needed boost to the trade and economy of any country, even one like Nigeria. This remarkable commodity needs many more processors and investors to get involved to speed up the transition from old to new.

In recent times, environmentalists and climate change proponents have increased advocacy for the hemp paper to substitute tree paper. Consistent awareness will galvanise the implementation of enabling government policies that will encourage sustainable business partnerships in the industrial production of hemp.  Furthermore, the sooner we stop wiping our bottoms with millions of trees, the closer we get to our global sustainability goal of protecting our planet and its people through partnerships that bring peace and prosperity.

So STOP flushing away whole forests and say yes to hemp toilet paper!




References

https://www.intelligentliving.co/hemp-toilet-paper-could-save-the-world/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis

https://wamaunderwear.com/blogs/news/hemp-toilet-paper

https://greencamp.com/hemp-toilet-paper/

https://www.iisd.org/about-iisd/sustainable-development

 

 

 

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