One hectare of industrial hemp can absorb 10 to 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is twice as much as a forest.
emp is often cited by sustainable fashion advocates as a fibre of the future because it can drive positive outcomes for the land where it’s planted. In the right region, it grows with minimal inputs like fertilisers and pesticides and without irrigation. It also has wild potential for carbon sequestration and soil health. But it makes up a very small percentage of the fibre market and its capacity to be used as a mainstream textile remains relatively untested. This makes it something of an enigma, which is intensified by its complicated history. For a long time, because of its close relationship to marijuana – they’re both part of the cannabis family – growing hemp was prohibited across much of the western world and was only removed from the UN’s
