Hemp to Save Our Trees
BY: Lillian Richard
Hemp to Save Our Trees
Worldwide we are seeing a devastation of our forests due to paper production. Consumption of wood products has risen 64% since 1961. Globally, pulp for paper, has risen from 40% in 1998, to an expected 60% over the next 50 years. The industry expects that demand to double by 2050. The U.S. consumes 200,000,000 tons of wood products annually, increasing by 4% every year. U.S. paper producers consume 1 billion trees each year (735 pounds of paper for every American). U.S. at 5% of world population consumes 30% of world’s paper. Only 5% of virgin forests remain in the U.S.
The pulp and paper industry is the 3rd largest industrial polluter – 220 million pounds of toxic pollution into air and water each year. Deforestation has released an estimated 120 billion tons of coz into the air. Three million tons of chlorine, a major source of carcinogen dioxin, is dumped into our waterways each year from paper companies. Every woman alive today carries some trace of dioxin in her breast milk. Dioxin is considered one of the most toxic substances ever produced and has been linked to cancer, liver failure, miscarriage, birth defects, and genetic damage.
Lillian Richard
SCI 204 Q
D00772586
Hemp to Save Our Trees Continued
The annual global consumption of paper will rise (from 300 million tons in 1997) to over 400 million tons by 2010, according to the Pulp and Paper Industry. This will exacerbate the problems of deforestation unless another pulp source is realized.
This is where Hemp comes in. Industrial hemp could save our trees. The USDA reported in 1916 that an acre of hemp produced as much paper as four acres of trees annually, yet 70% of American forests have been destroyed since 1916. Hemp would make a wonderful alternative to wood for use as paper. Hemp paper is stronger, with similar mass, absorbency, and thickness as commercial paper.
Industrial hemp means “any specimen of the plant Cannabis sativa L.,
Hemp to Save Our Trees
Worldwide we are seeing a devastation of our forests due to paper production. Consumption of wood products has risen 64% since 1961. Globally, pulp for paper, has risen from 40% in 1998, to an expected 60% over the next 50 years. The industry expects that demand to double by 2050. The U.S. consumes 200,000,000 tons of wood products annually, increasing by 4% every year. U.S. paper producers consume 1 billion trees each year (735 pounds of paper for every American). U.S. at 5% of world population consumes 30% of world’s paper. Only 5% of virgin forests remain in the U.S.
The pulp and paper industry is the 3rd largest industrial polluter – 220 million pounds of toxic pollution into air and water each year. Deforestation has released an estimated 120 billion tons of coz into the air. Three million tons of chlorine, a major source of carcinogen dioxin, is dumped into our waterways each year from paper companies. Every woman alive today carries some trace of dioxin in her breast milk. Dioxin is considered one of the most toxic substances ever produced and has been linked to cancer, liver failure, miscarriage, birth defects, and genetic damage.
Lillian Richard
SCI 204 Q
D00772586
Hemp to Save Our Trees Continued
The annual global consumption of paper will rise (from 300 million tons in 1997) to over 400 million tons by 2010, according to the Pulp and Paper Industry. This will exacerbate the problems of deforestation unless another pulp source is realized.
This is where Hemp comes in. Industrial hemp could save our trees. The USDA reported in 1916 that an acre of hemp produced as much paper as four acres of trees annually, yet 70% of American forests have been destroyed since 1916. Hemp would make a wonderful alternative to wood for use as paper. Hemp paper is stronger, with similar mass, absorbency, and thickness as commercial paper.
Industrial hemp means “any specimen of the plant Cannabis sativa L.,