Elephant dung paper
Elephant dung can be used for multiple purposes. For example, in an earlier posting the coffee process from elephant dung was described. This article is about making paper from elephant dung.
A good additional source of income as elephants need 200 kilograms of feed per day and then produce 50 kilograms of manure. A good amount of manure, which literally cannot be overlooked. At the elephant sanctuary in Lampang, a method has been developed to make clean and odour-free paper from this dung.
The elephant dung is collected and put in steel drums with water. These are heated by means of wood with the addition of substances that kill the bacteria. Then the mass is put into other vessels, where they vigorously reduce the substances by means of mixers, with the addition of water. The water is then drained off, leaving a soft mass that is enriched with a dye. This mass is kneaded into balls of 300 grams, which serves as raw material for another vessel filled with water. The new substance is now evenly distributed and is carefully scooped out with a sieve. The sieve is now placed in the sun to allow the substances to dry.
25 paper sheets in different colors can be made from 100 kilograms of elephant dung. An A4 format will cost 20 baht. The paper is not smooth, but comparable to Dutch handmade paper, so somewhat coarse. In addition to stationery, envelopes and photo frames are also made. The paper is for sale in the small souvenir shop of the elephant camp.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGmnXQHpYdY[/embedyt]
Good story! The following video gives even more footage of the process of making this type of paper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLLG2Bre2nQ
In Thai, this kind of paper is called กระดาษสาขี้ช้าง kradaat sǎa khiê cháang, short kradaat sǎa.
In some villages, the poop is also used to make gas and lighting.
Very suitable for heavy printing.
In some places the elephants are fed with only pineapple leaves, which gives a better structure to the paper but is not so much fun for the elephants…
First transport, then cooking for 4 hours, bleaching, chemicals for the color…
I don't care, but from an 'environmental' point of view I have some doubts.
I once saw when the elephant pooped that the chickens flew to eat, and told my colleague
that the chickens made eggs from it. But paper is also made of it.
Have a nice day.
I think it's better to use it as a soil enricher, animal feed or natural gas generator than to turn it into a clumsy tourist gimmick with chemicals and polluting wood fires.
Anyway, what does the environment matter if money can be made.
At the moment there is enough water but that is almost over and when I read how often water is used (assume many litres) then I wonder if that is so environmentally friendly.
Works well with existing paper.