THE NEW GREEN

The Economist states that 'weed' is the 'new green'. As hemp gains momentum in the US with Dave Monson's lawsuit (see previous post), journalists are taking a look. The only people not taking a look are the politicians who are trying to keep hemp illegal, and some of the so-called green activists who still think hemp is dope, or are swayed by too many George Monbiot opinions to think realistically. Business-wise hemp is certainly on the rise, the article quotes John Roulac of Nutiva as saying that sales went from less than $1m to $4.5 in 3 years. Other companies in his state, such as Minawear and GeoMio, are also seeing an increase in sales (both of these companies merged in January this year).

The fight to be seen as green has extended itself into fashion and the media, where stars do some silly things just to be seen with something green - Cheryl Crow weighed in by saying we ought to only use one square of toilet paper. My advice is don't shake her hand, it may not be very green. Other not very green personalities are those running around with cotton bags trying to look cool in a bag that cost some third world town their water supply, but the media does not seem to care about such trivial facts as these in their pursuit of celebrities to worship.

The way things are going we might even expect to have a book on the environment written by Paris Hilton, and as she has lots of spare time on her hands (and free room and board in a 5 star hotel courtesy of the taxpayer) this might just be the case. If she hasn't, Cameron Diaz has, so look for her book, titled Green, to hit the stands next week. How many trees were chopped down to print it though, and did she bother to use any hemp paper? If it's any good I'd like to know, but if not, maybe chop it up and sent it to Cheryl Crow to use in her loo. That's called recycling.

As to bags, I have just seen the Minawear design, and they are way too cool to waste on Mss. Crow or Hilton. Ms. Diaz, after sporting a Shining Path mantra on her bag last week in Peru, which some journalists said was like wearing a swastika at the Wailing Wall, may not be a candidate for one either. Since California is banning the plastic bag in 2008, there is a bag war in progress in which lots of fly-by-night eco-companies try to get us to use cotton bags or, in the case of the Onya people, polyester bags. The real environmentalists will carry hemp, and better if it is left undyed, why use more chemicals? Elegant simplicity is about to arrive in Hollywood from designer Mina Hegaard. This will be the sensation of the summer. The new green is a natural hemp bag.