Video: Building Houses With Hemp

Before being villainized by the federal government, hemp was actually referred to as the “New Billion Dollar Crop” in a 1936 issue of Popular Mechanics and was well on its way to becoming an American staple in manufacturing. The versatile and fibrous plant, that many people refer to as cannabis’ non-psychoactive cousin, can be used to produce an unimaginable about products ranging from food and rolling papers to cars, planes and even houses.

This video by National Geographic explores the future of hemp use and its potential to change the landscape of building by talking with a cultivator in pioneering industrial hemp in Oregon and a woman in Washington who strives to inspire others to live sustainably by living by example – in a hempcrete home she helped build herself.