The transformation of Elephant Dung

 

 

Mahima & Vijendra

had a crazy idea: exploiting elephant dung to make paper. Dung fibers have similar characteristics to paper, so they set up, with a paper manufacturer, an ecological process to use this abundant natural resource: an elephant produces 100 kg of dung a day! A new, innovative and fun way save trees and preserve the forests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do they transform elephant dung into paper?

 

The technique used is close to that of the manufacture of handmade papers. The colour varies according to the seasons and the vegetation and therefore according to the food of the elephants. Natural dyes are used to obtain additional colours. Nine steps are needed to transform the dung into paper. They are low energy consumers and all manual. The washing water is recovered and constitutes a natural fertiliser for the surrounding fields. Villagers are paid for the collection of elephant dung.

Once the paper is created, they exercise their creativity to transform it into notebooks, post-its, figurines, games, bookmarks, photo albums, etc...

 

Twenty or so employment opportunities have been created, giving birth to an organic and odourless type of paper!