Slow Living BOHECO

AN UMBRELLA ORGANISATION WORKING ON CIRCULAR-CHAIN HARNESSING THE GOODNESS OF HEMP PLANT: FROM RESEARCH TO MADE-UPS.

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A group of seven youngsters who founded BOHECO believe that hemp products can create a clean, green lifestyle. Livingetc talks to Chirag Tekchandaney, Co-Founder and Director of Marketing and Human Resources, BOHECO

Q. Tell us how did it all start, and why hemp?

The concept of Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO) started within the walls of HR college in New Delhi. At the time we were seven young boys who were looking to do something meaningful with our lives.

We realized that there was a great need to break the myths around hemp. It has so many wondrous properties and with what was indigenously available, we set out to follow the first mission of our company which is Educate; later we started selling hemp fabrics that led to the inception of our textile vertical. Every part of the hemp plant is useful. The seeds are a great source of nutrition, the stalk is used to make textiles, the flower and leaves have great medicinal properties. Hemp grows at an extremely rapid pace, leaving little or no room for pesticides or chemical fertilizers. It needs four times less water to grow than other fibres like cotton. All these factors make the plant carbon-negative and kind to the earth. How could we have not worked with a plant that has so many uses? And we set up our company in 2013.

Q. Can you elaborate on the process of making fibre from hemp? What makes the hemp fabric special?