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jdccdevel writes:

The CBC has an article about a new company using Milkweed fibre to clean up oil spills.

Franç​ois Simard, creator of Protec-Style, has a contract with Parks Canada to supply national parks with oil-spill kits. The kits come with various sizes of absorbent tubes filled with milkweed fibre.

Simard says milkweed has a unique ability to repel water, which makes it perfect for oil spills on land or water.

"You can leave an absorbent [milkweed] sock in water and it will only absorb the oil. It's very unique in nature to have fibres like that," said Simard in an interview at his factory in Granby, Que.

The new crop is also good for monarch butterflies, which only lay their eggs on the milkweed plants. According to the Simard:

"There were so many butterflies in the field that people on the road … had to stop," he says. "They were wondering what was happening. It was just growing 20 hectares that made the whole difference."

I wonder what other weed plants have novel commercial uses? Maybe someone can find a good use for Thistle or Kudzu?