Did you know that June 6 marked the start of Hemp History Week? It’s a pretty big deal. Really. During this week, the celebration will include more than 2,000 events in every state throughout America.

To celebrate this totally rad occasion, we wanted to highlight 5 facts about hemp we think you’d love to know.

1. Hemp plants are included in the schedules under the Controlled Substances Act

Weird, right? We thought so too. Well, the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and allies want to change that, so, they are raising a petition.

“The petition cites language from the Farm Bill of 2014, which defines hemp as distinct from marijuana by establishing the standard that hemp contains no more than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol or THC on a dry weight basis,” a Hemp History Week press release reports.

2. The American market for hemp products is the largest in the world

And, get this: the American hemp industry continues to expand. In fact, it experiences a 10.4 percent market growth in 2015, according to estimates from the Hemp Industries Association.

3. About 3,900 acres of Industrial Help were grown in 2015

The hemp was grown throughout Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont. But the commerce of these crops is limited until further Federal legislation is passed.

“To date, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act has 83 cosponsors in Congress: 69 cosponsors of HR 525, and 14 cosponsors of S.134 in the House and Senate respectively,” the press release states.

4. The road to creating raw chemicals is paved with hemp

“Hemp farming is an important step toward creating raw materials, finished products, and innovative technologies to catalyze a sustainable future in which every-day products are renewable and grown using regenerative agriculture,” according to Hemp History Week.

Apparently, hemp is a renewable resource and can help reduce market dependency on agricultural chemicals, synthetic fibers, as well as plastics, lumber, cotton, and other non-sustainable industrial materials. Damn, hemp!

5. Hemp takes carbon from the atmosphere

This helps stop the rise of CO2 levels that are responsible for climate change. Also, pollinators, such as bees, thrive on proliferous pollen, which is created by hemp plants.

Related on EcoSalon

The American Cannabis Industry is Growing

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6 Unique Yoga Clothing Brands (When Black Yoga Pants No Longer Cut It)

Image of hemp plants via Shutterstock

The post 5 Facts About Hemp That Make Hemp History Week Worth Celebrating (For the Last Time, It’s NOT Pot!) appeared first on EcoSalon.

As one of the oldest and most ecofriendly natural fabrics in the world, hemp fabric can be counted among the most sustainable textiles in existence. However, the controversy underlying the production of hemp is its relation to the Cannabis sativa plant, more commonly known as marijuana. The Fiber Watch series investigates the superlative qualities of the hemp plant and the fabric made from it, alongside discussing the legal difficulties of producing this exceptional fiber.

According to the Columbia History of the World, the oldest relics of our human history are fragments of hemp fabric found in tombs dating to 8,000 BC. The fiber obtained from the hemp plant has proven to be extremely durable, which is why it was historically often used for rope-making and heavy-duty canvas cloth. Hemp was widely used in the U.S. for centuries before the mid-twentieth century; Levi Strauss’ first pair of jeans was in fact made out of hemp fabric, as he found the combination of durability and comfort ideal for robust workwear. (See a more modern version of that hemp-based denim in the image above: Feral Childe’s Jean ValJean.)

The hemp plant grows quickly and efficiently without any need for pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers, making it naturally organic. Hemp plants fix essential nutrients back into the soil, making them an ideal crop to grow on land the needs nourishment. This gives it significant headway when compared to cotton cultivation, which uses some of the most toxic pesticides on the market, immense amounts of water and yields much less fiber per acre.

The stem of the hemp plant contains the fiber used for fabric production, meaning that hemp belongs to the bast fiber group alongside flax, jute, ramie and kenaf. These types of plants contain the softest fibers in the inner core of the stalk, while rougher fiber makes up the outer layers of the plant stalk. Unlike other cellulose based natural fibers, hemp contains less lignin (a viscous, glue-like substance that holds the fibers together) making fiber separation relatively easy. Traditional, mechanical methods of hemp fiber processing require no chemicals, although modern, chemical intensive methods have been adopted by several Asian producers. Since hemp fibers are naturally very long, it is difficult to find machinery that will easily process and spin them into yarn, as many modern machines are made for processing shorter fibers.

Once spun, hemp fiber is often blended with other fibers like cotton, wool and silk for textiles that combine the best qualities of each fiber. Hemp and cotton blends are extremely soft, wool and hemp blends are superbly warm, and silk and hemp blends create a lustrous fabric that is strong and durable. Hemp fiber displays superior qualities as a fabric, as it insulates excellently, breathes well, efficiently blocks ultraviolet rays and is often not processed with the use of chemicals. Hemp fibers are actually much longer and stronger than cotton with eight times the tensile strength and four times the durability.

Other uses for hemp fiber include paper, rope, cording, animal bedding, biomass fuel and car interiors. Hemp seed is a by-product of hemp fiber production, and offers numerous health benefits when enjoyed in one’s diet. Many health food brands use hemp seed and oil in foods like salad dressings, dairy-free milk, granola, veggie burgers, protein bars, breads and crackers. Hemp oil can also be found in skin products, soaps, and household cleaners as it is a natural cleansing alternative to harsh chemicals.

Despite all these benefits, cultivation of the hemp plant is illegal in most of the U.S. because it is related to marijuana. Unlike marijuana, hemp contains very low level of the psychoactive component THC, which is essentially what gets you “high”; hemp contains less than 0.3% percent THC, while marijuana contains 3-20% THC. Smoking hemp would provide you nothing more than a bad headache. Therefore, there is really no viable reason to outlaw the cultivation of the plant, as it would provide nothing but a subsidy-free crop alternative for farmers and a naturally organic resource that could be domestically produced into a number of products. Despite our ridiculous laws against growing the plant, it is currently completely legal to sell products made out of hemp grown outside the U.S.

Although it has been federally illegal to grow either hemp or marijuana since the 1940s, both Colorado and Washington legalized the plants and marijuana for adult recreational use last year. The first legal U.S. hemp crop of this century was planted in early 2013 by a Colorado farmer who also grows alfalfa for sale. Hemp is currently mostly cultivated in China, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Thailand and Chile, although it is also grown in Canada, Australia, England and Finland. Hopefully, the United States can get past its unreasonable phobias and realize the potential that hemp has to provide us with sustainable solutions that benefit this country’s farmers, producers, businesses and consumers.

Images: thöR, goldenroad, sunliner500

Related on EcoSalon:

Bringing Hemp Out of the Hippie Kitchen

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The post Why Hemp Fabric Makes Sustainable, Durable, Fabulous Fashion: Fiber Watch appeared first on EcoSalon.

A new collaboration between Vans and Krochet Kids international features hand crocheted shoes that help lift women in Africa out of poverty.

Krochet Kids international and Vans have joined forces for a special summer collaboration. The mini collection features two styles of Vans’ popular Bixie shoe, adorned with colorful crochet panels.

Krochet Kids international is a non-profit organization that teaches women in developing nations how to crochet hats, scarves, bowties and more, and enrolls them in a comprehensive program that teaches them to rise above poverty. This is the first time the company has tried their hand at making shoes, which are all, like the beanies Krochet Kids are famous for, hand crocheted in Uganda. Each piece features the signature of the woman that made them, and you can go to Krochet Kids’ website to find out more about her.

Besides these shoes being perfect for summer, we love that the body is made with 100% natural hemp and canvas, includes a removable and washable foot bed (which makes the shoe last longer) and is made with water based inks and glues.

The shoes are available in select stores across the country and online at Nordstrom. Watch this video to learn more about the collaboration.

The post Krochet Kids X Vans: Empowering Women Through Craft appeared first on EcoSalon.

Tom’s wedges have helped espadrilles make a strong comeback.

They were big in the 80’s and forever a wardrobe staple in places like Cape Cod and The Hamptons but thanks to Tom’s, we’ve been able to experience an espadrille renaissance two years running. Some styles like these above are made from hemp, others include cork and linen and all are styled to slim the ankle and push us through our summer days like sun kissed sweethearts.

$69

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

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Dear Earth apparel launches their own online boutique.

The recipe: Take a bit of organic rocker and a splash of vintage and mix well with contemporary graphic prints. The result is the newly launched Dear Earth label and online boutique.

Deriving inspiration from music, the moon, and popular culture, designer and owner Daniele Moore has created an organic luxury lounge wear collection composed of leggings with fun details such as ruching, snaps and zippers, sexy skirts made with re-purposed sequined material, and sheer graphic tees featuring messages like “Drums Please,” and “Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha, Love.”

Moore was born in Philadelphia and started sewing in her twenties as a creative outlet, and because she needed some comfortable clothes to teach yoga in. As she started to receive compliments on things she had designed and her mind flooded with new ideas, her appreciation for fashion expanded. Although Dear Earth styles are mostly casual wear, Moore says she loves details like pleats and ruffles that you see more in couture lines and has fused these elements in the more casual styles.

Moore says the earth inspires her every day as she watches sunrises coming up over the ocean in Miami Beach.  “Gratitude and appreciation for our earth and the energy it gives me makes choosing sustainable fabrics and practices very easy. The inspiration, the choices and the final product have all become one-if that makes sense,” says Moore.

Working with materials such as organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, peace silk and soy, Dear Earth also uses a dye method called Fiber Reactive, in which the fibers and the dye make a permanent bond which not only produces long-lasting color in the apparel but also minimizes dye run-off which is harmful to the environment.

“So many people have no idea about fabric and fiber meanings and they do not make the connection between a t-shirt and a plant. I really enjoy watching people make the connection which I believe increases appreciation and awareness of the Earth. I created Dear Earth to share this,” says Moore.

The post Miami’s Dear Earth Apparel Debuts Online appeared first on EcoSalon.

So many great shopping sites, so little time. BTC Elements is our stomping ground today.

I love this dress by Ecoganik don’t you? It’s such a vibrant purple one can’t help but think about fall, and even though it’s still far away, (gulp) holiday. A floaty frock that will work for you now, as well as demure with heels a la company holiday party come December. $56

(Styling note: Wrap the sash one more time so nothing hangs below the hemline)

This Kris Nations Double Peacock Pendant (we can only hope it was inspired by Raymond Carver’s “Feathers”), would sit pretty on your chest framed by the purple dress. $84

With a pair of vegan booties by Novacas, you are on trend. ($149.95)

I know you don’t want to see this picture, but soon enough you’ll be slipping on a pair – so why not a pair of Maggie’s? Textured and organic cotton? Forget about it. $26

The post Stylish Steals: With Purple and Peacocks as Base appeared first on EcoSalon.

Ahem. We’ve been longing for this bag in a big way. Lusting for it. Pining and yearning and possibly drooling, too. We’ve more than once reminded our mothers we have a birthday coming up*. Equal parts stunning and sustainable, the Ruffled Hemp Bag by VivaTerra is the best everyday bag of the season, and today…we…give it away.

You lucky duck.

To win, just leave me a nice comment below. The contest runs through next Wednesday midnight (last week’s Apple Dutch Oven winner will be announced tomorrow), and your odds are pretty good, sweet cheeks. But in case you can’t wait, you can still get the bag for a fantastic deal – do it before it runs out of stock! – by using the discount code HEMP at purchase. $25 bucks off the purchase price of $198? Done!

It’s eco. It’s chic. It’s the kind of ruffled sweetness J. Crew just wishes it had thought of. And, I have to say, this bag reminds me of a certain not-at-all-green leather Valentino bag from a season or so ago that I really loved but wasn’t about to buy owing to its toxic credentials (well, that and the fact that it cost nearly three thousand dollars). This one is better, not just because it’s 100% sustainable, but because it’s an almost unbelievably great price for a luxury tote bag. I love that it has a (removable) shoulder strap as well as traditional bowling handles. The black leather is recycled (of course it is!) and we all know how strong hemp is. Hemp = the spidey fiber of the apparel world, so you can take this baby from the office to the beach to the art show without a second thought, all season long. The slate hue is a perfect contrast for all the red and camel you’ve got flying around this fall, too.

Good luck, and grab this bag before it goes!

*Okay, maybe that was more me than we.

(Legalese: FTC and giveaway rules.)

The post Really, Really? Yes, Really! Fall’s Must-Have Bag Giveaway appeared first on EcoSalon.

On the subject of e-cars: We’ve had back to back to back news, so I thought it good to let the topic bake for a bit while we wait for the public reception of the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and others.

But”¦

This is way too cool to pass up. Just in from the Great Green North: an e-car made of pot! (Well, hemp, but you know the drill. Hemp, pot, same diff when it comes to headlines!)

Says CBC News (and, of course, 420 Magazine), the car, which will be made into a prototype this month by Calgary-based Motive Industries, is called the Kestrel and is doubling down on the green factor. Its body will be comprised of “impact-resistant composite material” made from mats of hemp – which, by the way, will be locally harvested in Vegreville, Alberta. (Gotta love the homegrown.) The car will be a compact designed for four dudes/dudettes, including the driver, and will top out at just over 55 mph. Its range will vary from 25 miles to 100 miles, depending on the type of battery.

The Kestrel is part of Project Eve, a Canadian non-profit collaboration aimed at increasing that country’s production of electric vehicles and components. And guess who’s gonna be helping out with the pot car? College kids! Students at polytechnic schools in Alberta, Quebec and Toronto will help roll these babies out the door and into the hands of parktakers sometime next year when the first twenty are due to be dealt.

Using hemp to build a car is “not an original idea,” says Motive Industries President Nathan Armstrong. Henry Ford, in fact, experimented with the not-so-evil weed in 1941 when he created a hemp-bodied car. The vehicle – pictured below – was fueled on the stuff, too. CarDomain has a video of the indestructo-prototype.

Today, however, with a renewed emphasis on reducing weight while not giving up on strength, hemp makes sense. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to make (sunshine, soil and a little love, bra) and isn’t as fancy pants as fibreglass and carbon-fiber-based racecar material, which requires all kinds of heat and chemical wizardry to produce.

“As a structural material, hemp is about the best,” says Armstrong. The CBC notes: “It [hemp] has about twice the strength of other plant fibres. It doesn’t require much water or pesticide use, and grows well in Canada, providing a high yield per hectare.”

“Plus,” says Armstrong, showing some true patriot love, “it’s illegal to grow it in the U.S., so it actually gives Canada a bit of a market advantage!”

Yeah, well, I live in Northern Cali, man. You wanna talk advantage?

Images: dwhartwig and Hugo90

The post Hey Man, Check Out This Canadian Green! appeared first on EcoSalon.

Some say hemp is the fiber of the future. And some like to point out that hemp has been around for as long as women have been gathering and men hunting. The use of hemp dates back 10,000 years, when hemp textile industries began in Europe and Asia. Gautama Buddha ate hemp seeds in 500 BC and hemp paper was invented in China in 100 BC. The English word for “hempe” was first listed in 1000 AD. And in 1776, the American Declaration of Independence was drawn up on hemp paper.

History lesson aside, why does it then seem like hemp has just appeared on the market? Most likely, it is because Americans associate the plant with marijuana and 1960s hippies. Hemp and marijuana are both varieties of the Cannabis sativa plant – except hemp will not get you high, as it contains less than one percent THC. (Marijuana contains up to 20 percent.) It is highly sustainable and requires very little pesticides. Over 25,000 products can be made from hemp, including shampoo, carpets, paper, and more.

Luckily, the tide of public acceptance seems to be turning for hemp. The green world is awash in hemp-i-tude! Hemp seed oil is known to be extremely hydrating, as its composition most resembles skin’s natural lipids. It is an anti-inflammatory that helps with the healing of acne, and is high in amino acids and essential fatty acids. Not to mention, it is great on your hair.

And a really great hemp product? That would be the Hemp Exfoliating Face Cloth from North American Hemp Company. This cloth, retailing for around $6, is made from 100 percent organic hemp fibers. And if you want a good eco-scrub, then this is the product for you. The packaging is made from 100 percent recycled content, it is cruelty free, vegan, and is 100 percent certified organic. (Though by who, I cannot discern.)

The hemp cloth claims to “bring superior exfoliating ability to reveal newer more radiant skin cells without the hyper-abrasion or overly-irritating the delicate skin on your face.” Does it? Yes – if you are looking for a good yet not too overbearing scrub cloth, I’d highly recommend it.

Just don’t try to smoke it afterwards.

FTC Compliance

Image: simon-and-india

The post You Gonna Smoke that Washcloth? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Over the past few years we have witnessed the exponential growth of sustainable fabrics. And we are all aware that this is a movement and not a trend. Organic cotton, hemp, tencel, recycled polyester and organic wool are gaining popularity, evidenced on the international runways and in fashion media. By now most of us are familiar with the advantages of sustainable fabrics that includes fewer toxic chemicals, reducing the amount of textiles dumped into our landfills, and producing in a closed loop environment.

But consumers are still largely dependent on non-sustainable fabrics like Polyester, Lycra, Spandex and Gortex to name a few. These fabrics hold properties that we have grown to view as necessities, like stretch, durability and price. So how do we discover a sustainable alternative?

CRAiLAR® Organic Fibers is touted to be the foundation of the first truly sustainable yarn in the apparel industry, and poised to become the revolutionary next step in sustainable fibers.

CRAiLAR is developed by Naturally Advanced Technologies (NAT), in collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada. It is an ingredient, much like Lycra or Gortex, except that it is completely sustainable. NAT’s hope is that apparel companies who currently use common blends like cotton/lycra, will shift to using a cotton/CRAiLAR blend. If blended with other sustainable fabrics, this new technology could have a significant impact on the apparel and textiles market as a whole.

The fibers are made from hemp stalk, which is not commonly used in apparel because of its rough texture and stiffness. The all-natural CRAiLAR process transforms the rough hemp stalk into a velvety-soft, yet strong and durable, textile fiber. The enzymes used in the process are all natural and GMO free, and the result is a fabric that is soft and supple like cotton, and has the same performance traits, so it is cool and comfortable to wear year-round. NAT claims that it is even better than cotton because it reduces shrinkage and has more tensile strength than cotton. It looks like cotton, dyes like cotton, fits the same and washes the same.

Hemp is known to be one of the most sustainable, renewable, and environmentally friendly crops that requires no irrigation, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It can grow to 14-feet in just a few months, producing multiple yields within one year. While many plants deplete the surrounding soil of vital nutrients, hemp is beneficial to soil, and actually improves its condition. Industrial hemp absorbs carbon dioxide – the most prominent greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere – at five times the rate of the same acreage of forest.

The problem that hemp faces is that it cannot be grown in certain countries, including the United States where it is illegal. While more hemp is exported to the U.S than to any other country, the United States Government does not consistently distinguish between marijuana and the non-psychoactive Cannabis used for industrial and commercial purposes.  Some states have defied Federal law and made the cultivation of industrial hemp legal. These states – North Dakota, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, West Virginia, and Vermont – have not yet begun to grow hemp because of resistance from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

CRAiLAR Organic Fibers are sourced mainly from Canada as well as a few other countries in Europe where its growth is not illegal.

CRAiLAR is currently undergoing approval for third party GOTS certification, however NAT does claim that the entire life cycle can be certified organic, making it eco-friendly from beginning to end.

It is too early to know what the cost implications of CRAiLAR are at this stage, but recent trials sponsored by Hanesbrands Inc. reveal that blending it with cotton significantly reduces manufacturing costs by reducing shrinkage and improving dye uptake. The resulting savings could bring the final cost closer to that of regular cotton, as opposed to the premium paid for organic cotton (which in some cases is as much as 60 percent higher).

NAT’s intent is to make CRAiLAR Organic Fibers a household brand name. They’ve already teamed up with Patrick Yarns, a world leader in the manufacturing of high-performance industrial yarns, who has successfully blended CRAiLAR with a number of natural and synthetic fibers.

I am impressed with this new technology, and I love the fact that it is derived from hemp. However, it really comes down to what CRAiLAR is blended with because that will determine the overall sustainability of the garment. If it is blended with conventional fabrics, then it really is only a slight improvement. And then there is that argument that any change is good change. However, if blended with organic cotton, tencel and other sustainable or certified organic fabrics, then the final product definitely meets my standards and gets a full thumbs up.

Images: CRAiLAR Organic Fibers

The post The Next Generation of Fabric Hails From Hemp appeared first on EcoSalon.