Hemp Building Materials Provide Alternatives as Lumber Prices Skyrocket

The price of lumber was around $300 per thousand board feet this time last year. In a year the price of lumber has risen 400% to $1,686 per thousand board feet. This surge in prices has added $39,000 to the price of a single-family new home and $13,000 for a multi-family home.

The surge is caused by an increase in demand, a shortage in labor supply, and in small part, tariffs on imports from Canada.

Many are turning to hemp construction materials as lumber prices don’t seem to be dropping anytime soon. Hemp can be used in more than 25,000 products like fibers, textiles, paper, construction, insulation materials, food, and fuel.

Industrial hemp was banned nationwide in 1937 but in December of 2018, industrial hemp was legalized with the passage of the Agricultural Improvement act.

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Other countries in Europe have already been using hemp products for years while the U.S is far behind in manufacturing and using these products. The hempcrete block similar to concrete blocks used in construction are lighter, easier to produce, do not degrade over time, absorb carbon, and assemble like legos.

For around $30,000, someone building a new home can have enough hemp blocks shipped to them in around 6 to 8 weeks. While most of the companies manufacturing these blocks are currently in Europe, they are finally coming to the United States. Texas, Missouri, Arizona and New Mexico are in talks to have hemp block factories constructed in the near future. In Pennsylvania, the blocks are already being manufactured.

As Wood Prices Surge 400%, Hemp Homes Are Cheaper, More Efficient, and CO2 Negative

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Make Bees Happy by Growing Cannabis

For those looking for that perfect pollinator plant to grow, look no further than hemp. While Cannabis sativa (industrial hemp) lacks the nectar that bees typically collect, a study published in the journal Environmental Entomology found that the pollen produced by male plants was able to attract up to 16 different bee species.

Because of its temporally unique flowering phenology (the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena), hemp has the potential to provide a critical nutritional resource to a diverse community of bees during a period of floral scarcity and thereby may help to sustain agroecosystem-wide pollination services for other crops in the landscape.”

Environmental Entomology

Taller hemp plants were more successful than the shortest plants in attracting bees, drawing in 17 times more of the insects. This is likely due to the increased pollen production of taller plants and their increased visibility.

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How Many Acres of Hemp Would Stop Global Warming? – Thought Experiment

I got curious about carbon sequestration and did some math.

According to my sources, we have about 770,000,000,000 (770 billion) tons of excess carbon dioxide that we need to remove from our atmosphere.

One ton of carbon equals 3.67 tons of carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide has two oxygen molecules for every carbon).

So we need to remove 210,000,000,000 tons of carbon from the air.

One tree removes 13 pounds of carbon per year. Let’s give it a ten-year lifespan for this purpose. One tree sequesters 130 pounds of carbon in a ten year time period.

A forest contains about 100 trees per acre.

So an acre of trees over a ten year period can sequester 13,000 pounds or 6.5 tons of carbon.

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So we need about 32,300,000,000 (32.3 billion) acres of trees planted to capture the excess carbon within a decade.

And this assumes we don’t add any more C02 to the atmosphere. Plus we are losing 200,000 acres of rainforest every day (73,000,000 acres a year), so that too would have to stop.

What about hemp?

Glad you asked! An acre of hemp can absorb 4.2 tons of carbon per year per acre. That’s 42 tons in a decade. But we can’t just chop down the hemp, let it decompose, and plant more. We need to do something with the hemp, or else much of that carbon goes back into the air. That’s where hempcrete (we need this bad, look it up!) and a variety of textiles and other uses come in! We can make much better concrete out of hemp and concrete is a massive source of C02 output (Cement is the source of about 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions).

So if we only planted hemp instead of the trees we need (obviously we should do both) we would need 5,000,000,000 (5 billion) acres of hemp. Let’s add another billion acres for fertilizer production and transportation and other production-C02 costs.

If you want to correct my math drop me a comment:

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CBD Hemp Oil Used at Children’s Hospital to Treat Epileptic Baby

At Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado, Amylea Nunez, a 2-month-old old baby from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is making history.  “She has a rare form of epilepsy,”Amylea’s mother, Nicole Nunez said. “They don’t know exactly the type.” And her doctors don’t know the cause.

Amylea began having seizures a few days after her birth. “About a day after we went home from delivery. Her heart stopped twice on us, and that was probably the hardest part on us,” Amylea’s mother, Nicole Nunez, said.

Amylea was having 15 seizures a day or more. The medicine they prescribed for the seizures is known to damage the liver, so the family asked the hospital monitor Amylea while they gave her Charlotte’s Web CBD oil, an oil derived from hemp that has almost no THC, not nearly enough to get anyone high.

In addition to epilepsy, CBD oil is being researched for use to treat various types of pain, anxiety, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, nausea,  and as an antipsychotic.

Ernie and Nicole Nunez - credit CBSAmylea’s father Ernie Nunez said,

We’re trying to use something different that’s not so bad on her body. After researching and month after month reading on it, we’re hoping it works because it’s a natural way and it’ll help her out.”

The Nunezes say they are trying to wean Amylea off the conventional medicine while using hemp oil to treat the condition.

They say she’s better. “She is a lot more alert today; she is looking around today and following our faces when we talk to her and whereas before when we talked to her she did not react at all,” Nicole Nunez said.

Statement From Children’s Hospital Colorado

Children’s Hospital Colorado does NOT prescribe or recommend medical marijuana.

We don’t yet have the science to fully understand medical marijuana and how it impacts children, which is why Children’s Colorado supports research to determine the safety and efficacy of medical marijuana. Children’s Colorado has a CDPHE-funded medical marijuana study that is strictly observational to assess response rates, changes in behavior and side effects of artisanal marijuana products on children with severe epilepsy. Enrollment starts at one-month of age. This study is for families who choose to provide artisanal marijuana to their children for epilepsy, and Children’s Colorado providers do NOT administer the marijuana.

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The Health Benefits of Hemp

One of the Most Nutritionally Balanced Foods on the Planet

Foods that have an incredible array of health benefits that go well beyond just their nutrient value are considered “super-foods.'” One of the oldest and yet seemingly most misunderstood superfoods on the planet is hemp.  Hemp is an incredible multi-purpose plant that can be used for anything from paper, rope, and cloth.  It is also one of the most nutritionally well-balanced foods on the planet.

Although many people associate hemp with its sister plant marijuana (Cannabis sativa l.) the two are not the same.  Hemp products come from a special variety that contains virtually no THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the chemical that gives marijuana its psychoactive effects.  Therefore hemp is a perfectly safe food that will not make one “high” or cause anyone to fail a drug test.

Hemp has been cultivated and used by any ancient cultures since the beginning of recorded history.  Researchers have found its use in China, India, Babylonia, Persia, Egypt, and the native cultures in North & South America.  Hemp fiber was used to make rope and cloth, while the stalk was used to make paper.  These cultures also used the seed for nutritional purposes.  It can be eaten as shelled seeds, oil, butter, flour, and protein powder.

Hemp is a Complete Protein Source:

Hemp protein is one of the very few plant based complete protein sources.  This means that it contains sufficient quantities of all 9 essential amino acids.   Hemp is a great source of sulfur containing amino acids methionine and cysteine which are necessary for cellular detoxification and the production of vital enzymes.  Additionally, it is rich in branched chain amino acids that are needed for muscle growth and repair.

Almost 60% of the protein in hemp is made up of a globulin source called edestin.  Most of the rest is in the form of albumin.  Albumin and Edestin is a very similar molecular makeup as the protein found in the human body.  Because of this common link, hemp protein is very easily absorbed into human blood and used for roles as critical as DNA repair.

Hemp Has the Optimal Fatty Acid Ratios:

Most of our world is suffering from abnormal fatty-acid ratios.  Two critical forms of essential fats are the omega 6 and omega 3 varieties.  Due to the heavy consumption of processed vegetable oils and grain-fed meat & dairy products most people have very high levels of omega 6.  The World Health Organization recommends a 4:1 omega 6:omega 3 ratio.  The typical western diet produces a ratio from 20:1 – 50:1.  Abnormal ratios cause heavy increases in inflammation that leads to accelerated aging and advanced disease states.

Hemp contains the optimal ratio of 3.75:1 (omega 6:3) making it a powerful source for an anti-inflammatory diet.  Hemp is also a great source of the omega-6 essential fat gamma linoleic acid (GLA).  GLA is only found in quantities of significance in hemp, borage oil, evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil, & Spirulina.  Because of the scarcity of GLA much of our society is deficient in this essential fatty acid.  GLA is critical for reducing inflammation in our body and is one of the most powerful nutrients for balancing hormones.  Additionally, sufficient quantities of GLA promote healthy skin, hair, & nails.

Hemp is Rich in Fat Burning GLA:

GLA significantly increases metabolism by encouraging stored fat known as brown adipose tissue (BAT) to be effectively used for energy.  Additionally, GLA activates the metabolic process by providing key nutrients for the cellular energy system called the sodium-potassium pump.  When the sodium-potassium pump is effectively operating in every cell it can remove toxic substances from deep within the cell structure.  If the pump is weak, cells will store toxins and the metabolism will be slowed.

Hemp is used by healthy conscious individuals in a variety of ways.  I personally like to occasionally snack on hemp seed, use a high quality hemp seed protein powder, and my favorite way of consuming hemp is through hemp seed oil.  Hemp seed oil is great in green shakes or smoothies.  It is also good salad dressing oil.  However, you would never want to cook with hemp oil due to its essential fat content and it should always be stored in a cool, dark area.  Ideally, it should come in a dark container at the time of purchase.

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