Hemp is growing rapidly in popularity and a big reason is because it’s so eco-friendly. While there are many great uses for hemp, we wanted to point out a few of the specifics of what makes hemp so much better for the environment than other fabrics used specifically to manufacture clothing.
Hemp vs Polyester
Polyester is now one of the most common materials used to manufacture clothing. From an eco-friendly perspective, there really is no comparison. Polyester is a synthetic material made from petroleum, a byproduct of processing oil. Obviously, the processing of fossil fuels is very high on the list of things destroying our environment, enough said.
Hemp vs Cotton
Cotton may be the most common material that hemp is compared to in the manufacturing of clothing. Cotton is the most widely used natural fibre for clothing in the world. A big reason for that is comfort, there is no denying the softness of cotton. In fact, most of the clothing we manufacture is a blend of 55% hemp and 45% cotton. This allows us to manufacture more eco-friendly clothing while still maintaining the comfort and wear-ability everyone wants. Both hemp and cotton are grown by farmers but there are some significant differences between the two.
Hemp Requires Less Water
Cotton is a very thirsty plant, it can take about 10,000 litres of water to yield just 1 pound of cotton. Water is becoming more and more scarce and with worldwide cotton production reaching about 60 trillion pounds per year that is a massive amount of water. Hemp requires a small fraction of the amount of water compared to cotton.
Pesticides and Insecticides
Hemp can be grown without any chemicals or toxins, this can’t be said about cotton. In fact, by some accounts, cotton uses 15% – 20% of the world’s pesticides despite only using only about 2.5% of the world’s croplands. These chemicals drain into the soil, contaminate water sources and harm animals. There is a movement towards organic cotton but according to the Organic Trade Association that makes up less than 1% of worldwide cotton production at this time. Hemp is also much more efficient to grow, typically requiring only half of the space as cotton to produce the same yield.
All of this also means that hemp is much better to wear compared to fabrics that can be contaminated with toxins, especially for those that have sensitive skin.
These are just a few of the things that make hemp so environmentally friendly. Not only is hemp eco-friendly, but it’s also comfortable to wear as well. At Effort’s Eco-Essentials we have worked for years to develop the ideal blends of hemp and organic cotton to provide the very best in comfort, style and durability. We have a wide selection of hemp clothing for men and women at very reasonable prices and we ship to Canada & the United States.
Feel free to call us at (866) 391-8601 if you would like to a service representative to answer any other questions or to place an order.
