Best Eco Stuff

Hemp clothing has long been a joke in the realm of eco fashion. It’s synonymous with scratchy, boring and uncomfortable. When most people picture hemp clothing, they immediately think of shapeless beige garments – but hemp has come a long way. Though it’s traditionally a very coarse, pale brown fiber, recent innovations have allowed manufacturers to create hemp items that are soft and vividly colored.

Many hemp garments and textiles are beautiful, comfortable and stylish – as evidenced by this lovely 100% hemp dress from Rawganique. Hemp has a lot of things going for it! Here’s a rundown of the advantages:

Eco-friendly: When you’re shopping for eco fashion, you want to know that what you’re buying really is good for the environment. It doesn’t require pesticides, and needs very little water. It renews the soil with each growth cycle, and its roots prevent soil erosion. It’s a readily renewable resource. The only caveat is that it’s not usually grown in the U.S., due to concerns about that other – illegal – byproduct of the cannabis sativa plant. Luckily, our friendly neighbor Canada has stepped in and grows tons of industrial hemp to meet our needs.

Strong: Hemp clothing usually lasts much longer than cotton. It has three times the tensile strength of that other natural fiber, yet is lightweight, absorbent and breathable.

Versatile: Hemp can be blended with cotton or silk to create fabrics that have the strength of hemp, yet a very fine weave. It can be used to create pants, shoes, dresses, hats, shirts, ropes, bags, paper, building materials and even food products. Since hemp is a natural fiber, it has the same elegant, easygoing look as cotton and linen.

Even more innovations are being made with hemp right now, with researchers testing processes that improve the conversion of hemp fiber to hemp fabric, making it ever-more eco-friendly and cost-effective.

So, forget those ingrained images of hemp outfits that look like burlap sacks. We’ll undoubtedly see a lot more hemp in eco-friendly fashion and home textiles in the future, in an even wider range of colors and styles. Eco fashion is getting more stylish and chic by the day, and hemp has a big role to play in our sustainable future.