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Most Unique Christmas Gift Ever! Elephant Dung Paper
By Julie | December 22, 2008
No, that title is not a typo, I really meant to write elephant DUNG paper. Let me explain. Yesterday we celebrated an early Christmas with some great friends who were in town for the weekend. From them we received one of the most unique Christmas gifts I’ve ever gotten. (Thank you Michelle and Ehren!) The gift was a journal. It had a card on back that explained more about the product. The card said:
These beautifully handcrafted paper products were made with a mixture of elephant dung and rice paddy. They were pulped to perfection by the elephants of Sri Lanka, manufactured by Maximius and distributed throughout North America by Mr. Ellie Pooh.
And, when I write elephant dung, I do mean poop.
And, even the name is witty… Ellie pooh, I love it!
Ok, for all of you who are totally sickened by the thought of writing out your Christmas letters on elephant dung, the information that came with the journal explains the processing that goes into making their paper: Here’s how they do it:
- The elephants eat.
- They poop.
- The poop is boiled and sanitized.
- And made into pulp.
This produces a clean, odorless, eco friendly “acid free” paper.
I can vouch for the paper being odorless. And I’m pretty sure they’d have to do a thorough job of cleaning it up if they expect to find a market for it. Plus, their products are really quite beautiful! Here’s the website: www.mrelliepooh.com for more information. Or, it you like to see their products for yourself, here is a link to their journals. To see more products, just browse through the list on the left hand side of the page.
Here is a link to with more information about the area the elephants are living in. To summarize, it explains that in the area of Sri Lanka the people are trying to farm the land. But huge elephants are roaming the same land, they poop a lot, and trample the crops, and make agriculture difficult to impossible. The paper products from Mr. Ellie Pooh, could be an answer to their problem, especially if word of their product were to really spread, and their market could increase. Here’s an excerpt from the link:
Many are now convinced that the only way elephants and human beings can exist successfully in the same environment is through finding ways to use the elephant as a sustainable economic resource.
Elephant dung may be that resource. It is a commodity that is freely available. On average, an adult elephant produces about 180-200 kg (500 lbs) of it per day. Moreover, it provides a way of converting a liability into an asset in conflict areas.
Isn’t this the point of the whole “green” movement so many find themselves attached to spreading? It’s the ultimate recycling! So, if it’s possible to get a much needed resource billions of people rely on, that would be paper, without chopping down our rain forests, shouldn’t we give elephant dung a try? (Even though I’m mean that seriously, writing it does make me laugh, a lot. It genius, but still, hysterical.) If you’re interested in finding a store near you that sells Mr. Ellie Pooh products, search the list of locations here.
Paper made from elephant poop: what an awesome concept!
Topics: Awesome People, Holidays | 1 Comment »
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm