green living
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ANSONIA NATURE CENTER 104 acres of wooded hills and grassy fields, miles of nature trails, streams, a two-acre pond, wet meadows, upland swamp, butterfly & hummingbird garden, woodland wildflower and fern garden, community gardening, childrens’ playscape, visitor center, animals & nature exhibits, classes and more!
HEMP GETS HOT
(203) 736-1053
by Julie Peterson
AnsoniaNatureCenter.org
Meet the Hardest Working Plant on the Planet
A
The stems undergo decorticrop that was illegal in Right now, it’s U.S. soil for more than the Wild West cation to separate the long outer fibers (bast) from the short half a century is now of agriculture. inner fibers (hurd). Hemp reaching for the sun. Industrial hemp, the low- or no-THC ~Dustin Enge hurd makes extremely durable hempcrete for construction, cousin to marijuana, has created absorbent and dust-free animal bedding or high hopes among farmers, agricultural repellets for heating stoves. An exponential searchers, manufacturers and consumers. By 2019, America had become the world’s third- rise in the use of hemp is expected because it can replace products made from paper, largest producer, behind Canada and China, wood, plastic, cotton and fossil fuels. where it’s been cultivated for 8,500 years. “Hemp fiber is going to dominate the “It’s the fastest-growing ag industry market once we get to the full manufacturthat we’ve ever seen,” says Tara Valentine, ing potential,” says Erica Stark, executive hemp specialist at the Rodale Institute, director of the National Hemp Association, in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Since hemp’s in Washington, D.C. inclusion in the 2018 Farm Bill, Rodale’s The first introductions consumers can hemp web page hits have grown 10-fold. expect include hemp paper products, such as plates and toilet paper, and biodegradBetter Products able hemp bioplastics like cutlery and cups. All parts of the hemp plant are useful in Construction materials and other products multiple ways, and hemp has applications are expected to quickly follow. in textiles, construction, bioremediation, technology, nutrition and health, including cannabidiol (CBD). The seeds are rich in protein, essential fatty acids and vitamins. They can be eaten, ground into flour or pressed for oil that is used for cooking or in body care products.
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New Haven/Middlesex
NaturalNewHaven.com
Environmentally Friendly The Institute of Papermaking and Printing, at the Technical University of Lodz, Poland, did a 2015 study comparing making paper from wood to making it from hemp.
