Towards a Circular Economy

You cultivate from the soil the material from which you will build your house. A plant grows in just 100 days and, in the process, cleans the atmosphere and soil and strengthens the water system. Throughout its life, the material continues to absorb carbon. And when the house is demolished, the materials return to nature and nourish the soil, where more material will grow to make more houses. This is the circular economy, in which there is no waste — the residue from one process provides input for another, indefinitely.

Hempcrete makes possible the dream of an economy in which resources are not depleted nor waste accumulated — everything returns indefinitely to the cycles, renewing itself. Producing building material from crops is a way of meeting needs while simultaneously cleaning the atmosphere, renewing the water system, and caring for the soil. Hemp is excellent for enriching and decontaminating the land — not by chance, vast plantations were spread throughout the region where the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred.

We are used to thinking that construction, by definition, produces a negative impact on nature — and many of the alternatives considered sustainable are actually attempts to reduce this negative impact. But it doesn't have to be this way: the impact can be positive. A rational system is one in which the more you build, the more you renew the soil, water, and atmosphere. Hemp cities can be large carbon reservoirs, producing more positive impact the larger they are.