sustainability
Both are natural, but which is more ecological: hemp or cotton?
Which material is better: cotton or hemp?
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Cotton versus hemp: The reputation of the white gold is not the best, hemp is considered eco per se – but is that true? Which natural fiber is more environmentally friendly and resource-saving?
In the past, when you still went to parties or casually struck up a conversation with complete strangers, you might have met a convinced hemp friend. Not a stoner – but someone who really knows his stuff. The name of my hemp acquaintance was Norbert. He was a geography teacher, we sat next to each other on the train.
After I had mistakenly described his natural white shoulder bag as a “beautiful jute bag”, it all started: “Hemp! One of the oldest crops in the world. Completely underestimated!” Christopher Columbus, he informed me, discovered America thanks to his hemp sails. The robust deep rooter is a true miracle plant.
Earth Day
Every year on April 22nd, “Earth Day” takes place worldwide, which aims to promote appreciation for the environment and encourage people to think about their own consumption. The media of the Bertelsmann Content Alliance are taking the day of action as an opportunity to report on topics related to climate change and the state of our planet under the motto “Let’s do it”.
Frugal, can be grown almost anywhere and, in addition to clothing fabrics, is also suitable for insulation or as animal feed. Blame its demise on the cotton lobby and the US Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which criminalized the plant and boosted the value of cotton. Stoners are also characterized by a certain missionary spirit.
Industrial hemp has been legal since the mid-1990s
The cultivation of industrial hemp has been legal again in Germany since the mid-1990s. Above all, fashion labels that want to appeal to critical customers praise hemp textiles as an environmentally friendly alternative to cotton. This is also due to the bad reputation of conventional cotton cultivation, which uses a lot of chemicals: According to the Nabu nature conservation association, around 25 percent of all insecticides sprayed worldwide and eleven percent of all pesticides end up on cotton fields.
Poison for nature and for the people who harvest it. However, it is a stubborn prejudice that cotton cultivation consumes an extremely large amount of water. According to new calculations by the International Cotton Secretariat, the production of one kilogram of ginned – i.e. freed from seeds – cotton uses an average of 1,200 liters of water worldwide. Less than rice (2,300 liters) or wheat (1,400 liters). In addition, cotton often grows where it rains a lot anyway – around 55 percent of the cultivation can therefore do without artificial irrigation.
A kilo of hemp fibers, on the other hand, only needs about 300 to 500 liters of water. The plant thrives in almost any climate and also requires half the area of cotton for the same yield. Its greatest quality is that it protects itself against pests and can regenerate the soil.
A niche product in the clothing industry
Despite this, hemp is still a niche product in the clothing industry. Stefanie Giesel, co-owner of the “Hanfhaus Reutlingen”, which specializes in hemp textiles, explains the problem: There is a lack of efficient techniques for processing hemp fibers into yarn. The structures were never properly rebuilt after the cultivation ban, so that hemp is now used in a special process for cotton spinning plants must be made compatible – which has a negative effect on the ecological balance. This is different in China, for example, where the hemp tradition was never interrupted: The products of the “Hanfhaus” come from there, certified according to the “Global Organic Textile Standard” for organic produced natural fibers.
Cotton versus hemp: Both are natural fibers, and one plant is no more evil than the other. What sets them apart is their commercialization. There is no “fast fashion”, no disposable fashion made of hemp. The clothing is more tear-resistant than cotton and therefore lasts longer. Pants and T-shirts are the bestsellers in Giesel’s shop. Timeless and chemical-free products that you use for a long time.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, only one percent of all cotton production is grown according to verifiable and coordinated lines of organic farming. With the niche product hemp, this is different, at least for the products available in Germany. That’s why our result at this point is: one to zero for the hemp.