The threat of climate change hangs over the future like an albatross. Already, society is beginning to deal with the severe repercussions of rapidly changing meteorological conditions—sea levels are rising, water supplies are declining, and coastal storms are becoming more frequent and intense. The bottom line is if we don’t do something soon to mitigate our impact on the environment, our entire way of life may be in jeopardy. Luckily, there are steps we can take to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce the effects of climate change.
On its own, hemp farming provides considerable benefits to the environment. If the industry were to take some extra steps, like switching to solar energy, hemp could play a significant role in combating the global climate shift.
Hemp and Sustainability
Why is hemp good for the environment? There are several reasons.
For one, hemp can help improve the soil it’s grown in. When pieces of the hemp plants fall off and decompose, those bits of organic material enrich the earth with nutrients and assist the growth of future crops.
Let’s talk about hemp and CO2. You may know that trees help remove carbon dioxide from the air, but did you know that hemp actually sequesters more airborne C02 than any other type of commercial crop? One acre of Industrial Hemp absorbs ~40,000lbs of C02. That’s even more than forests!
Speaking of forests, hemp production can help prevent the massive deforestation issues the planet currently faces. Industrial hemp makes for a much more sustainable method of papermaking since hemp growing takes only four months compared to the years required for new trees to grow. Switching to hemp fiber as a raw material would drastically reduce the paper industry’s reliance on logging and remove the monetary incentives for destroying our rainforests.
Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels long term is essential to preventing catastrophic climate change. Surprisingly, hemp may be just the alternative we’re looking for. Hemp can be processed into ethanol as well as hemp biodiesel which could serve as the energy source needed to run a car.
Hemp even helps the bees, whose population has been plummeting in recent years. The plant may not produce any nectar, but its abundance of pollen helps bees thrive.
How the Hemp Industry Could Do Even More
Part of our mission at E1011 Labs is to provide sublime self-care as sustainably as possible. It’s why we only source sun-grown hemp. It’s why we use eco-friendly paper instead of plastic and metal for our stelo™, and it’s why our Los Angeles headquarters uses solar power and is LEED-certified.
All on its own, hemp could be instrumental in helping mitigate climate change. However, there are steps the industry could take to become even more sustainable. One of the biggest of these energy solutions would be making the switch to solar power. Imagine, if every hemp company switched to solar installations, the entire industry could be carbon negative!
Benefits of Solar Power for Businesses
There are several benefits of solar power for business owners. The most obvious is the benefit to the environment, but solar can also help your company in other ways.
Like solar power for home use, using solar power for business premises can help reduce your monthly electricity bill. In the hemp industry, energy costs can accumulate fast. Cutting down on recurring overhead can free up capital better used elsewhere.
Installing solar panels comes with some other monetary benefits as well. All levels of government, including local, state, and federal, offer tax incentives to encourage business owners to make the switch to greener energy. For at least the next year, companies can take advantage of the ITC credit—a 26% tax rebate on the cost of installing your new solar power system. If you’ve been thinking, “I should get solar power for my business,” there’s never been a better time to do it since the ITC tax credits will significantly help reduce installation costs.
A solar panel system also comes with energy independence. Power outages are a fact of life, but with solar power, you can rest assured knowing the lights in your business will stay on even if the commercial provider in your area has an outage.
Help the planet and help your business by making the switch to solar!
