Atlas 365: Accelerating Low Carbon Consumerism

Using hemp to fight climate change

Green house gas emissions contribute to global warming and climate change.  The air pollution they cause is associated with increases in dementia and respiratory problems.  The issues connected with green house gases are costing the economy billions of dollars.
 
Imagine being so moved to act on these issues that you would put your career in law on hold to devote yourself fully to this cause - using hemp as the medium for change.  That's what Akeem Gardner did, and he told us why.
 
 
Akeem Gardner (left) and Randy Osei (right) founded Atlas 365 Inc. as a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use of products made from industrial hemp as a means of addressing global climate change.
 
Why hemp?
 
Hemp is a quick-growing plant with many uses.  Hemp is used as a source of CBD, a medicinal compound.  Its seeds are used for food products, and hemp fibers are used for textiles as well as packaging and building materials.  Most importantly, hemp has an enormous positive impact on green house gas emissions because it absorbs 4 times more carbon dioxide per acre than trees.  
 
The use of hemp as a building material in "Hempcrete" greatly increases the R value of the building, and reduces energy consumption for heating and cooling as a result.  Hemp cores (hurds) are lime are combined to create a material used for insulation and construction known as Hempcrete, Canobiote, Canosmose, or Isochanvre.  Hemp cores are woody and high in silica, which means they bind well with lime to create an alternative to concrete.  The energy use and green house gas emissions associated with the production of Hempcrete are much less than those associated with the manufacturing of concrete.
 
Because hemp is fast-growing, pest-resistant and adaptable to various agricultural environments, it is the perfect sustainable, renewable resource for building materials, AND it sequesters up to 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide per acre.
 
As consumer awareness of hemp products grows, it will increase demand for these products and cause industry to rely more on hemp as a raw material, shifting away from traditional materials with a negative environmental impact.
 
The case for using industrial hemp more widely is an easy one to make.  Among the supporters of Altas 365's efforts on this front are the federal government of Canada, Sheridan College's Pilon School of Business, and the Canada Green Building Council.  The organization expects to be designated a charity in the next two years.
 
In the meantime, it seeks donations using blockchain technology in the form of its app: The Ten Thousand Acre Club, built in partnership with Return the Love Community Support. Blockchain ensures transparency since donations can be tracked to their endpoint in funding operations and production.
 
The Ten Thousand Acre Club allows contributors to donate funds to support an acre of hemp production.  In exchange, they are awarded "eco-points" that can be used to purchase hemp products or applied to other endeavours, such as repaying OSAP loans or supporting other charities, such as Rotary's End Polio campaign.