Turn Over a New Leaf

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Hemp, a notorious weed in the United States, doesn't deserve its bad buzz. While closely related to marijuana (both are varieties of the same species, Cannabis sativa), industrial hemp contains less than 1 percent of the psychoactive chemical delta-9tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that gives marijuana its potency. From 1776 until its ban in 1937, hemp was a major American crop; Presidents Washington and Jefferson grew hemp and praised its merits. Today, hemp is grown in Canada, Russia, China and many eastern European countries. Like kenaf, hemp has a higher yield per acre than that of trees.

Bagasse, the crushed outer stalk that remains once the juice has been squeezed from sugarcane, also is used as a paper fiber. Along with cereal straw and bamboo, it is among the world's most widely used and available non-wood fibers. Its annual tonnage nearly equals the combined total production of corn and wheat, the most commonly cultivated grain crops.

In the United States, an estimated 150 million tons of straw goes unused each year. But its economy and high production per acre could make it a good candidate for papermaking. Straw also requires far fewer chemicals and less energy to produce paper pulp, due to the low amount of lignin in its residue. Straw's drawback is that it contains silica, which can calcify and plug up papermaking equipment.

—Catherine Hallier

Building Revival

Homeowners, homebuilders and handypeople across the country are gaining their salvation—or at least their salvage one board, one bathtub, one door at a time.

Used building material centers are popping up all over the United States, and whether the intent is to save money or save the planet, people are flocking to these warehouses to find used and surplus doors, windows, flooring, lumber, fixtures, bathtubs—everything, including the kitchen sink!

Materials are harvested from old houses and office buildings. Once reduced to a heap of rubble that was trucked to the local landfill, these buildings now are being carefully deconstructed, and the materials reincarnated for a second go-around.

"About 85 percent of the material from deconstructed houses can be reused or recycled," says Jim Primdahl, director of the Portland, Oregon-based DeConstruction Services.

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