Today Is World Nature Conservation Day
Today is World Nature Conservation Day! Today is all about bringing awareness about the urgent need to preserve the environment – everything from natural resources to plant and animal species, soil, water, air.
How hemp can help to conserve nature
It’s no secret around these parts that we’re huge fans of hemp. In fact, we’ve been cheerleaders for the plant since before we founded Good Hemp in 1998. But the world at large has been enjoying the benefits of hemp for thousands of years and in that time, it has seen a huge range of uses, from textiles and paper to, of course, healthy and tasty treats. One of our missions here at Good Hemp is to expand the conversation around this super plant, including how beneficial it is for the environment.
Hemp is basically nature’s purifier. The plant captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, quickly cleaning the air we breathe as a result. In fact, for every tonne of hemp produced, 1.63 tonnes of carbon is removed from the air, making hemp a much more effective sequester of carbon dioxide than trees.
The yield of hemp is also incredibly fast, taking just four months to grow. This not only makes it easy for sustainable farmers to add it to their annual rotation, but also helps regenerate the soil, thanks to the nutrients contained within the hemp plant. And not only that, but since hemp roots can grow up to nine feet deep, the soil in which hemp grows will always be strengthened by its presence, even helping to restore damaged soil and grow a wider range of crops as a result!
We also love hemp because it is such a naturally strong plant that it doesn’t need any pesticides or herbicides, which means cleaner air, land and water!
All these small things that hemp does for the environment around it helps to conserves nature around it.
What can you do at home to help conserve nature?
Now you have heard all the great things about hemp, you’re probably wondering how you can help conserve the environment at home. One important thing we can do at home to help is to reduce, reuse and recycle. Over ⅓ of all food produced globally goes to waste. The UK throws away around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in a single year. We are challenging you to try different recipes that might use up some old vegetables / fruit produce that you were thinking of throwing away.
1) Smoothies:
Smoothies are great because you can chuck any fruit / veg that is a little past its best before date and whizz it up into a smoothie. You can also freeze any fruit or veg for later use. There are so many smoothie recipes on our website you’ll struggle to find which one you want to make first.
2) Baking:
Who doesn’t love baking? Banana loaf and carrot cake is an obvious choice here! You can use up mushy bananas or carrots that have become a bit squishy and turn them into a delicious cake. Here at Good Hemp, one of our amazing ambassadors has created a carrot cake cookie recipe that is low in sugar, fully vegan and of course delicious!
3) Soup:
Now we might be cheating on this one slightly as a soup is basically a savoury smoothie right? At home you can make your own soup up with a range of different vegetables you might have in your fridge and blend them up into a tasty and warming lunch. If you don’t have a soup in mind but you have lots of mushrooms that need using up, here is a creamy and hempy mushroom soup.
4) Herbs:
if you have bought some herbs and they are about to wilt, you can put them into ice cube trays and add some oil to them (we obviously recommend Good Hemp Original Hemp Seed Oil). You can them pop them our of the freezer anytime you need a herby quick!
5) Vegan frittata:
A frittata is an amazing meal to make because you can experiment and make it your own! Any veg that you have in the fridge or freezer that needs using, as well as that vegan cheese you bought but haven’t used up yet, you can mix it all together and make an amazing meal.
