Once something gains the status of "weed" in our collective mind, it tends to prevent us from using it. This is unfortunate, since our planet and our economy would both benefit from us taking advantage of plentiful, useful plants and animals.
Here are several species that are both abundant and useful-- that we refuse to make any practical use of.
Kudzu
I remember an early cell phone ad from the 1990s. It was a billboard over Birmingham advertising that their phone network "covers more of Alabama than kudzu." The idea was striking. If you live south of the Mason-Dixon line, you know kudzu as that pervasive vine that has swallowed the South in one huge bite. In Japan, where kudzu is relatively rare, kudzu is farmed for use in food, papermaking, beverages and medicine. What do we use kudzu for here? Absolutely nothing.
Kudzu was introduced to the United States to conserve topsoil, but the CCC did not expect that it would become such as pervasive invasive species. Thanks to kudzu, our forests are drowning in thick vines. And, despite its many benefits and uses, we still make almost no practical use of it. The environment would benefit tremendously from the production of kudzu paper.
Nutria
Another invasive species, the nutria is hard at work in the Deep South, destroying any forests and wetlands left untouched by kudzu. Native to South America, these muskrat-like creatures have absolutely taken over the swamps of Lousiana, where they're driving native species to near extinction. This problem could easily be solved if people started eating nutria meat instead of other forms of wild game, but Louisiana natives aren't up to the challenge.
The Louisiana government started a massive campaign trying to convince Louisiana residents to eat nutria. But most people don't respond well to the government telling them to do anything-- especially if it involves consuming the flesh of a giant rat-like thing. Because of our pre-conceived biases, the nutria is continuing to march into the South without any stumbling-blocks along the way.
Cattail
You know those reeds that grow all over every pond-side in the U.S.? The ones that look like giant sausages on stalks? Those big sausage-like things taste delicious. In fact, Every single part of the cattail plant is edible or offers a specific industrial use. It also purifies water, eliminates pollutants and helps to prevent soil erosion, and will grow well without any pesticides. But how many cattail farms have you seen in the U.S.? Absolutely none.
Native Americans used cattails for literally hundreds of purposes, and, if we altered our tastes and preferences, it could become a primary material for paper-making, construction, food, fertilizer and water purification. But, right now, it isn't yet marketable enough to fly.
Hemp
There is no practical reason that industrial hemp shouldn't be used as food, paper or textiles. But marijuana-phobia is so pervasive that it prevents the full exploitation of hemp as an earth-friendly, potentially abundant natural product. Hemp's industrial value is truly limitless, but it remains illegal in the United States and many other jurisdictions.
Hemp is not the same plant as marijuana. Like edible poppy seed plants, it is related to a plant with medicinal and psychoactive properties, but it is inert in its industrial form. Hemp would not open the door to the legalization of recreational drugs, any more than poppies. But fear of its psychoactive cousin keeps industrial hemp under wraps.
If we are to ever see a green future, it will depend on our ability to use resources as they become available, even if they do not fit our habits and culturally ingrained preferences. Support the use of abundant, useful species by purchasing products made from them and using them in your own homemade crafts and foods.
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