How often in the past month have you felt a sense of satisfaction using a paper straw, holding a cardboard coffee cup holder, or enjoying your yogurt from a paper container instead of plastic? Or perhaps you’re into sustainable product design and got excited about the innovations suggesting the replacement of plastic bottles with paper bottles? While these choices seem like steps towards sustainability, we may be overlooking a critical aspect of our quest to replace plastic with more eco-friendly materials.
The state-of-the-art solution is paper. However, about 97% of our paper products are made from trees. While trees are a renewable resource, their growth rate does not match our accelerating demand. For example, we consume more pizza delivered in tree-pulp boxes than the number of trees growing to replace them. This imbalance raises a crucial question: Are we truly cleaning up the packaging industry, or merely shifting the burden?
The switch from plastic to paper is commendable, but the source of our paper needs reevaluation. Paper made from wood pulp undermines the zero-waste goal and the vision of a cleaner world. To truly protect our forests, ecosystems, and biodiversity, while reducing plastic waste in our oceans and landfills, we must seek non-tree-derived paper pulp.
Currently, only 3% of paper pulp comes from alternative sources, and hemp is a key player in this small percentage. Let’s journey back to ancient China during the Han Dynasty, 2,000 years ago, when standard paper was made from hemp. Hemp pulp contains minimal lignin—the substance that helps trees stand tall, but also causes paper to yellow and requires harsh chemicals for removal. These chemicals pollute our rivers and make paper production a dirty industry.
Hemp, a perennial plant, completes its growth cycle in three to four months with minimal water, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Its low lignin content reduces the need for chemicals in paper production, making the process cleaner and more sustainable. Despite these advantages, industrialization and prohibition sidelined hemp in favor of tree pulp, depleting forests and their critical ecosystems.
Forests, particularly boreal forests, are vital carbon sinks, storing vast amounts of CO2 over time. These forests support intricate ecosystems, including indigenous cultures like the Sami people and their free-roaming reindeer, which rely on ancient trees covered by lichens for food during the cold winters. The pressure on global forests threatens these ecosystems and their role in climate regulation.
Transitioning to hemp for paper production can alleviate the strain on forests, protect biodiversity, and contribute to climate crisis mitigation. By embracing hemp, we support a sustainable and regenerative resource, ensuring cleaner production processes and a healthier planet.
Hence, the future of sustainable packaging lies not just in replacing plastic, but in choosing the right alternatives. Hemp offers a promising solution, capable of meeting our demands without compromising environmental integrity. It’s time to rethink our approach and embrace hemp as a key player in the fight against climate change and the pursuit of a sustainable future.
On a personal note:
As an artist and photographer, I have used a lot of paper in different forms, from artistic to book printing, photography paper as well as packaging and specialty papers. It is important to keep in mind that paper pulp is the raw material supplying many inherently different industries. While it won’t be possible to switch all of them to hemp, there are some favorable ones where solutions have already been found. Especially for the inkjet and offset book-printing sector, several tree-free papers have been developed and are available on the market. The low demand makes these papers less competitive in price, but this can change if publishers and consumers proactively request more sustainable and tree-free paper solutions in their print shops, with their publishers, and by choosing to invest in tree-free options for themselves and the planet.
As a Climate Impact Storyteller, Maren Krings leverages her expertise in photography, filmmaking, content writing, and keynote speaking to highlight the potential of hemp for climate resilience and social justice. She holds a B.F.A. in Photography from the Savannah College of Art & Design, a degree in Climate Change Studies and Environmental Science from the University of Exeter, and multiple certifications in related fields.
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