Being ‘green’, or ‘eco-friendly’ has been a huge trend in the past decade or so. Industries, governments, and communities are slowly but surely transitioning from the consumerism of previous years, to the sustainability of recent. Many people are trying to find ways to reduce their eco-footprints, but there are some practices, specifically semi-illegal practices, that are already surprisingly eco-friendly. Here are some illegal practices could help save the world:
Hemp
Hemp is one of the most versatile plants in the world as it can be used in anything from clothing to health foods and even to biodegradable plastics. One of its most useful applications is its potential as a biofuel by which hemp biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, or gasoline at the same cost as petroleum. Plus, it’s much better for the environment as hemp fuel burns clean and does not contribute to global warming. As a biomass, it can produce 10 tonnes per acre, meaning that, if 6% of U.S. crops were hemp, all of their energy needs would be taken care of. While hemp can be legally cultivated and used in Canada, it is still banned in the majority of the United States due to its relation with marijuana. The DEA (Drug Enforcement Association) has long resisted its use, despite the fact that it is a low THC strain of the cannabis plant. THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main psychoactive constituent of marijuana of which hemp contains less than 0.3%, compared to marijuana’s 2% – 20%. Some states have managed to secure its industrial use through licensure but many are still awaiting approval to start cultivating it on American soil. It’s too bad, really.
Piracy
It’s not a secret that file-sharing is one of the main ways that people obtain music, movies, and games online. The fact that it’s illegal doesn’t stop most people from doing it anyway. Most of the time, people just want to save money or are too lazy to go and buy something themselves. However, it’s not too hard to see that pirating files is an effective way to reduce one’s material usage. The amount of tangible material that would have had to be produced for just one person’s entertainment use is often reduced to just one (albeit 2-terabyte) hard drive. Internet pirates are saving us resources.
Small house living
It is becoming more and more popular for people to live in tiny houses or micro-apartments, living spaces that have been designed to be as small as possible, while still maintaining a decent level of comfort. Due to their greatly reduced use of material and their sustainable design, these houses are an ideal solution to counteract the amount of unnecessarily huge dwellings that have become the norm for people, especially those who live in suburban areas. Though many have been successful small-house living, the building codes for a large number of regions do not allow others to do the same thing. Housing proposals have to meet certain criteria, and often there is a minimum square footage that a house must meet, depending on the region. Some people have found loopholes in the regulations though. For example, Tumbleweed Tiny House company founder Jay Shafer began by building on trailer foundations, as trailers are not technically under the building departments’ code and have much less restrictions in terms of size. Tiny houses – 1. Building codes – 0.
Obviously, there are a lot of things to consider when attempting to legalize something, but it would certainly be ecologically beneficial if some of these things became legally acceptable.
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