Beautiful, Sustainable Hemp
We’ve been interested in hemp for its sustainable properties for a few years now, but could never find a version that we felt was the right quality for our brand and customers. A little over a year ago, we came across a beautiful hemp material that we can't wait to finally introduce.
Hemp’s Sustainable Qualities
One of the strongest appeals of Hemp for us was its amazing qualities from a sustainability standpoint. Unlike crops used for similar textiles, all parts of the hemp plant can be used in some capacity. This leads to much less waste and helps farmers maximize the use of their land and potentially increase their incomes as well as those of other members of their communities. Remaining parts of crops that cannot be utilized as completely as hemp are often burned or discarded, contributing to heavy pollution in those areas.
As a phytoremediation plant, hemp helps remove heavy metals and other contaminants from the soil and water, it was actually planted at Chernobyl to help reduce soil toxicity. Because hemp plants shed their leaves throughout their growing season, they actually add nutrients back to the soil and help it retain moisture. This combined with its ability to grow so quickly that it can be harvested multiple times a year with high yields makes it a favorite rotational crop for farmers.
Hemp is also seasonless–it can be grown year-round even in poor soil without using pesticides and doesn’t require as much water as similar crops. Plants help mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during their growth cycle, and hemp specifically absorbs even more carbon dioxide per hectare than most other crops and trees.
Hemp has so many significant qualities in terms of sustainability, but it also has many compelling benefits when used as a textile. Some of our favorite properties of hemp as a material are:
1. With one of the longest natural fibers, Hemp is incredibly strong and one of the longest-lasting natural materials available.
2. The fibers get even softer with each wear and wash and because the material is so strong, it can handle years of use.
3. Hemp is naturally resistant to bacteria and mold, this makes it an ideal option for textiles used close to the skin like clothing and bedding.
4. It’s hypoallergenic, making it a great material for people with sensitive skin or allergy-related concerns.
We offer this beautiful fiber blended with cotton, and the resulting material is soft and airy with a subtle slub texture and perfectly imperfect feel. This bedding is great for all seasons, it’s warm in the winter yet breathable and cool in the summer and has a very similar look and feel to our Heirloom Linen, but with even more benefits from a sustainability standpoint.
