World's first Hemp Plastic CD Project!

. HEMP PLASTIC CD-TRAY! . 100% HEMP STONE DIDGERIDOO . HEMP CARD INSERT

Recorded at Cutting Edge Studios, Gold Coast, Australia- the home of didgeridoos. The first release for Hemp Music Productions (www.hempmusic.com) is truly unique.

Relaxing sounds from the harp, flute, guitar and angelic voices complement the ancient drone of the didgeridoo. This professionally recorded CD has one difference- its based around the hemp plant.

Known for its use in clothing (textiles), paper, cosmetics, fuel, medicine and even food- we are now shown another use for this amazing plant- an alternative to petrochemical plastics!

The hemp plastic CD-Tray is a commercial first. The hemp stone didgeridoo is made from a unique material developed in Europe. Harder than stone (hemp stone) is mouldable and 100% biodegradeable as it contains no resins, glues or anything else apart from hemp and water!

The CD, launched in Australia is available for world-wide distribution. This hemp plastic CD will be produced as a limited edition and is expected to sell-out fast.

For a piece of history in your hands you may order direct, retail or wholesale from www.hempmusic.com

10% of the profits from this CD are to be donated to good causes with the remainder supporting the hemp (plastic) industry.

World's first Hemp Plastic CD Project!

One possible answer to the so-called war on Iraq?

Today Hemp Music Productions (www.hempmusic.com) announced the completed
recording of their first "Hemp Music Project"

A world first for three reasons:

. Uses musical instruments made from 100% hemp

. CD Tray made from novel Hemp Plastic

. CD Inserts made from hemp paper

Recorded at Cutting Edge Studios, Gold Coast, Australia- the home of didgeridoos. The first release for Hemp Music Productions is truly unique.

One answer to the so-called war on Iraq is to supply alternatives to the petrochemical usage. Hemp has been cultivated worldwide for centuries and is shown here in its modern, legal form as an alternative to petrochemicals used in plastics.

1) Each track features a musical instrument made from 100% hemp stone! No glues, no resins, just water and a patented technique devised in Austria after seven years of R&D. Using a world-breaking technology this material is moulded to form, for example a traditional didgeridoo shape. Supported by local indigenous Australian's who report that the trade in rainforest wood didgeridoos is higher than the amount of musicians. Instead of supplying rainforest wood that is rapidly diminishing, 100% renewable crops such as hemp can supply all the qualities that wood offers and can be painted by indigenous artists to look just the same. The acoustic properties of this material are superior to most timber options. Other products that have been made from this material include drums, speaker cabinets, guitars; drum rings, chairs, tables, bowls and more!

2) The CD tray is made from a totally different technique and is currently manufactured in Japan using Japanese grown hemp fibres. A world first- Hemp Music Productions are hoping other music producers will be interested in representing their awareness of green matters.

3) The CD inserts use hemp paper supplied by Living Tree Paper Company-another use of hemp. Hemp can produce 4 times the amount of pulp for paper than can be produced from trees grown on the same acreage of land. Hemp takes 90 days to grow- trees take at least 20 years.

Hemp's other uses include as a fuel (yes, diesel engines can run on 100% hemp oil); food (truly nutritious hemp food such as hemp milk ice-cream and hemp snack bars are available throughout the world); fibre (well known for its strength; hemp is now blended with silk; latex and wool using modern methods); medicinal (UK company and Government backed GW Pharmaceuticals are looking to launch cannabis medicinal products in the near future); body-care products (Dr Bronner's, Body Shop etc.)

Not only is this CD about hemp, but good music. The music is stand-alone and designed to be relaxing and healing. Based around the harp, flute and didgeridoo with angelic voices, unique acoustic guitar and true rainforest sounds this CD is expected to be a hit in the home, in therapy centres and anywhere a relaxing atmosphere is required.

"Fields of Green" features:

Didgeridoo- Paul Benhaim and Si Mullumby

Harp- Rob Neil

Flute- Peter Haddock

Guitar- Justin Firefly

Vocals- Isa, Suzi, Michelle and Jarien

Artwork- Susana

Printing- Bonn Lee printing, Byron Bay

Production- Tarshito and Paul Benhaim

Engineered and Mastered by Lindsay at Cutting Edge Studios, Gold Coast,
Australia

Supported by Hemp Music Productions (www.hempmusic.com), Living Tree Paper Company (www.livingtreepapercompany.com), Cutting Edge Studios (www.cutting-edge.com.au), Hemp Food Industries Association (www.hemp.co.uk), Hemp Plastics (www.hempplastic.com), Ecofibre Industries (www.ecofibre.com.au), Nakar Graphic Design (www.nakar.org) and Hemp Stone.

MP3 samples and graphics available at www.hempmusic.com

Contact: Paul Benhaim Tel: +61 (0)2 6684 0066 / +61 (0)421 38 55 33

Email: paul@hempmusic.com

Internet: www.hempmusic.com

Hemp Plastics

Well, we thought we had heard it all about this wonder crop Hemp. Food, Oil, Paper, Textiles, Car Parts and Cosmetics- but now plastics?!

Long ago when I had the opportunity to travel to the world's furthest places, including the Himalayas one of the most striking features that I remember, after the mountains, was the amount of plastic rubbish along the paths of nature's paradise. It has long been a dream of mine to offer an alternative to plastics- ideally something biodegradable.

Working in the hemp industry this seemed a possibility, no matter how remote. Henry Ford's first motorcar used plant-based fibers in the body and an early picture of an axe-wielding Mr Ford showed the world how strong plant fibers were in re-enforcing man made materials. What happened to Mr Ford's work is another story not to be covered here, but suffice to say large corporations had no interest in materials that could be grown by just about anyone.

In 1998 when I was asked if I would like to 'make a hemp plastic' I jumped on the opportunity. What I soon learnt was that according the Oxford dictionary the definition of plastic was 'anything mouldable, pliant, supple ' and that this in no way in-tailed using petro-chemicals.

Plastics and petro-chemical based materials are so abound today- they are used in almost everything around us, from surface tops, to pens, toothbrushes, computers, light fittings and the list really does go on. Why? Petro-chemicals are cheap, mouldable and have a long-shelf life.

So my goal was to produce an alternative that was cheaper, just as mouldable, stronger that could have a controlled shelf life- rather than last forever on our mountain tops or tips.

With some assistance we managed to produce a mix of 25% hemp fibers in a polypropylene base. These plastic pellets were by no means ideal, but they were certainly a step forward- 25% further in fact. In fact we produced a 'Frisbee' that we used as a business card to say this is what we can do now, guess what else we could do with a little support.

Sadly, the support did not come. Many people loved the idea (the Frisbees soon sold out), but finance was not available for further research and development.

Not being one to give up, I searched the world for others working in similar fields and came across a European company who had patented a material that was even more ideal. Using 100% hemp fibers, no resins, glues or binders-just hemp and water, they produced a material that could be moulded like papier-mache. Even more impressive was that when dried the material was hard as stone.

I continued my investigations into biodegradable plastic bags and water containers that I felt where two of the world's most throwaway and polluted products. My research continues using another technology originally developed in Europe that can incorporate hemp fibers to strengthen the material.

Realising that more awareness on what current technologies are available today is needed, I developed a new hemp plastic product. Based on the original Frisbee technology a new hemp reinforced plastic pellet was produced. This was subsequently injection moulded to produce a Hemp Plastic CD case.

Then, using the 100% hemp stone a mould was created to produce didgeridoo's. Indigenous Aboriginals from all over Australia have supported this idea with the view to substituting the masses of rainforest trees that are being
logged daily from Northern Australia. Many of these wooden didgeridoos are cut by machines and painted with prints- leaving little profit for Aborigines, yet stripping them of their greatest wealth- nature. Local artists will paint the hemp didgeridoos that are planned to be manufactured here in bulk with profits being fairly distributed. These musical
instruments that 'sound better than 95% of my didgeridoos' according to Gumaroy a professional Aborigine didgeridoo player and can be sold to tourists who still have an authentic piece of artwork, knowing they are supporting a renewable hemp industry rather than the logging industry.

Finally, using my contacts in the hemp industry I called the largest hemp paper company in the world, Living Tree Paper Company in the USA. } Did you know that hemp produces 4 times the amount of pulp for paper than trees where a hemp crop can be grown in 90 days, twice a year with trees taking around 20 years?

The product I created incorporated local musicians from Byron Bay, Northern New South Wales- a local harp player, a professional flutist, a world-class guitar player and some angels who sang with us. In a Gold Coast Studio run by Cutting- Edge, we created a relaxation and music CD called Fields of Green based around the sounds of the 100% hemp didgeridoo. The last track is a prayer dedicated to the Children of Mother Earth created and sung by Gumaroy our main indigenous representative. I have packaged the CD in a CD case than contains a hemp plastic tray. We did not produce the whole CD tray from hemp plastic else we could not have any hemp paper insert that we have used. This is a world first and the hemp CD case is a limited edition piece of history. You can get your hands on one while stocks last via
www.hempmusic.com

The CD is to be released in June 2003 and profits shall be used to further the use of plant fibers as an alternative to petrochemicals and other good causes.

Further information on hemp plastics available at www.hempplastic.com