This week on the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, we’re talking about wipes.

And diapers. And makeup pads. And all the other throwaway hygiene products we barely think about — but use every day.

Most of these single-use items are made from plastic.

Why?

Because plastic is cheap, consistent, and engineered to run smoothly on fast-moving machines.

But that convenience comes at a cost: landfill waste, microplastic pollution and a total disconnect from the land.

But what if we could change that? What if the raw material for these essential products didn’t come from oil — but from agriculture? From the hemp fields, even?

This week, we talk to Jason Finnis from Bast Fiber Technologies, a company working to make that shift real — using hemp fiber to replace plastic in nonwoven hygiene products.

Our guest is Jason Finnis, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Bast Fiber Technologies, a clean-tech fiber company with operations in North Carolina and Germany. Jason’s been working to bring hemp fiber into hygiene and personal care products for more than 30 years — not as a novelty, but as a high-performance alternative to synthetic materials.

We talk about:

• The massive and often invisible role of nonwovens in our daily lives

• The hidden microplastics in wipes, pads and tampons — and why it matters

• Why hemp fiber is a smart material for hygiene: absorbent, soft and compostable

• What BFT looks for in hemp fiber: long, clean and consistent

• The importance of regional supply chains and local farm partnerships

• How consumer pressure, brand demand and European policy are aligning to create real momentum

Jason shares his journey from selling hemp out of a VW bus in the ’90s to helping build a future where everyday products are cleaner, greener and made from plants, not petroleum.

Learn More:

Bast Fiber Technologies

https://www.bastfibertech.com

Global Hemp Fiber Summit – July 10–11 at NC State University

https://hempinitiatives.com/fiber-summit

Thanks to our sponsor:

HEMI – The Hemp Education and Marketing Initiative

Learn more at HempInitiatives.org

Produced by Eric Hurlock and Justin Berger