In collaboration with TABU, the 8000 Kicks team is excited to announce the hemp revolution. In the early hours of Tuesday, September 17, the Portuguese-American hemp footwear brand and TABU, a company that produces CBD-derived products, launched a large operation to distribute more than 500 industrial hemp plants throughout the city of Lisbon. Locations included Praça do Comércio, Parque Eduardo VII, metro stations, supermarkets, universities, hospitals and many more. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness about hemp in Portugal and educate people about its benefits.
“Last year we dropped the plants in Berlin,” says 8000Kicks CEO and Co-Founder Bernardo Carreira. “But we decided to do this hemp revolution in Portugal because this is where we manufacture a lot of our products, and we need to make a statement about all the challenges we face when manufacturing our hemp shoes. It’s really difficult to get hemp here. Both farming and processing the fiber is a nightmare.”
Miguel Maximianol, co-founder of Tabu CBD, also shares the 8000Kicks mission in “bringing hemp back.” “At Tabu, as the name suggests, our goal is to break the taboo around cannabis and how this plant has therapeutic benefits and can improve the quality of life for Portuguese people on both medicinal and economic levels,” he says.
Although industrial hemp plants resemble recreational cannabis plants, they are not for smoking and may be mistaken as such. Hemp is nature’s purifier. It is a unique crop that can help shape a better future for future generations. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider purchasing products made from hemp, when given the option:
- The plant captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact, for every ton of hemp fiber produced, 1.63 tons of carbon are removed from the air, making hemp a much more effective carbon sequester than trees.
- One hectare of hemp produces as much fiber as two hectares of cotton.
- Hemp helps nourish soils with depleted nutrients and reverses the effects of erosion.
- Hemp does not require herbicides or pesticides.
- Hemp is one of the strongest fibers in nature and was used by Henry Ford to build cars.
- Hemp is naturally antibacterial and antimicrobial.
“Our mission is to bring hemp back, showing everyone that hemp products are far superior to products made from other fibers. This is the green answer we’ve been waiting for,” Carreira says.
More than 1000 explanatory tags were placed on the plants, where the team explained the advantages of hemp and the importance of this fiber for society and the environment.
