If you’re a fan of International Highlife, you may have noticed that we’re kind of into weed over here. Besides your favorite kush, haze, or whatever your poison is, cannabis also has about a million different uses in its industrial form — hemp.
What is hemp?
Industrial hemp isn’t really any different from the weed that gets you high on a Friday night while watching the Office for the 17th time. Your favorite bud and industrial hemp both come from the same Cannabis plant, but industrial hemp is a variation of Cannabis, defined as having less than 0.3% THC (or 0.2% or 1%, depending on the jurisdiction). It’s grown for its fibers that definitely won’t get you high, but can be used for an endless amount of products.
Hemp has actually been grown all over the world for thousands of years, and was used to make clothes, oils, insulation, rope, paper, sails, and about a thousand other products.
Hemp grows super fast (crops can reach their full size in between 70 and 140 days) and has a way higher yield than trees. According to the Ecological Agriculture Projects, an acre of hemp will produce as “much pulp for paper as 4.1 acres of trees over a 20 year period.”
What is hemp toilet paper?
Hemp toilet paper is made from the cellulose fibers of the hemp plants. The process of making hemp toilet paper isn’t all that different from making regular toilet paper. The hemp plants are processed into pulp, pressed into thin sheets of paper, designs are stamped on, perforations are cut, and voilà, you have hemp toilet paper.
But why?!
Unless somebody comes up with THC-infused hemp toilet paper, using cannabis to wipe your ass isn’t going to get you high (and probably not even then, just smoke a joint like normal people). So why the hell should you care? We knew you were going to ask that, so here are 4 reasons why you should use hemp toilet paper for your precious butt.
It’s good for the environment
Trees are kind of important for our planet and regular toilet paper is made from trees. The average American uses about 50 pounds of toilet paper a year, while the average tree can be turned into about 100 pounds of toilet paper.
That means you’re flushing half a tree down the toilet every year. Hemp produces four times more cellulose fibers per acre compared to trees and can be harvested after only 4-5 months. Using hemp to make TP means we don’t need to cut down trees, which leaves more trees filtering greenhouse gases and sheltering animals.
It’s biodegradable
Hemp is a natural product, which means hemp products are biodegradable. That’s not just better for the environment, it also means that hemp toilet paper doesn’t build up in personal and city septic systems, which saves money. Hemp toilet paper also biodegrades faster than regular toilet paper.
It’s soft and durable
Hemp fibers are naturally soft and hemp toilet paper goes through less chemical processing than regular TP. It doesn’t need bleaching or additional chemicals like formaldehyde, which is great for people with sensitive skin. On top of that, hemp toilet paper is more absorbent than regular paper.
It’s cheap
If environmental benefits don’t convince you, maybe this one will. Hemp is much cheaper to grow and process than trees, which in turn also makes hemp products cheaper than their non-hemp counterparts.
Okay, so where can I find hemp toilet paper?
That one’s a bit trickier. Hemp toilet paper isn’t exactly available at your closest 7/11, but there are a few companies making it in the USA. If you like to buy in bulk, you can also get huge packages of hemp toilet paper on Alibaba.
If you’ve always dreamed of wiping your butt with cannabis, save your bud, and get some hemp toilet paper instead.
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