Informative Speech
Channel: Shane Fitzgerald
Date: 2016-02-25

Title: A Solution to a Greener Earth
Topic: Industrial Hemp
Specific Purpose Statement: To inform about the uses of industrial hemp.
Thesis Statement: Hemp has a wide variety of uses.

Introduction: We can all agree that the Earth is “under attack”.  Plastic is littered everywhere.  There is an endless amount of chemicals going into the ground, water, and even our food (if you can even still call it food).  Trees are being cut down to be used for paper, building materials, and a number of other reasons.  But what if I said that there’s a way that we can fight back?  What if I said there might be a simple solution to these problems?  Well, there just actually be a simple solution.  And it’s called industrial hemp.  Hemp, which is not to be confused with its closely related cousin that is widely consumed for medicinal and recreational purposes, actually has a rather long list of various uses.  Some of which I will talk about now.

Body:
I. Materials
A. Paper (Van Roekel, 1994)
B. Building supplies (Koch, 2010)
C. Plastic / composite materials
II. Nutrition
A. Food (Callaway, 2004)
B. Drink
C.  For animals (Scott), (Mustafa, McKinnon, Christensen, 1999)
III. Energy
A. Ethanol
B. Biodiesel
C. Briquettes for heating

Conclusion: So in conclusion, even though the Earth isn’t in its best health currently, there are ways that we can help it improve.  Using products made out of hemp is one of those ways, and I believe that it would help tremendously.  Using more hemp products could mean less plastic being littered all over the place, less chemicals in the ground, less chemicals in the water, and having an abundance of a healthy food source.  I don’t know what everyone else thinks, but hemp appears to be a good solution for some of the major environmental problems that we are facing today.

References
Van Roekel, Gerjan J. (1994). “Hemp Pulp and Paper Production”. Journal of the International Hemp Association, http://www.druglibrary.org/olsen/hemp/IHA/iha01105.html

Koch, Wendy (Sep. 12, 2010). “Hemp homes are cutting edge of green building”. USA Today  http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/09/hemp-houses-built-asheville/1#.VsUvkfIrLIU

Sarich, Christina (Feb. 24, 2014) “50 Percent Of Our Oil Habit Makes Plastics, But Hemp Can Curb Our Addiction”. Nation of Change 
http://www.nationofchange.org/50-percent-our-oil-habit-makes-plastics-hemp-can-curb-our-addiction-1393253982

Callaway, J.C. (2004) “Hempseed as a nutritional resource: An overview”. Euphytica http://www.finola.fi/Hempseed%20Nutrition.pdf

Scott, Dana “Hemp For Dogs: Should You Use It?”  dogsnaturally http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/hemp-for-dogs-should-you-use-it/

Mustafa, A.F., McKinnon, J.J., Christensen, D.A. (1999) “The nutritive value of hemp mean for ruminants”. Canadian Journal of Animal Science http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.4141/A98-031