Description

Did you know that some recycled paper is made from elephant dung? The paper doesn’t come from the dung itself, but from the fibers that are contained in the elephant dung. Elephants eat anywhere from 100 to 1,000 pounds on a daily basis, but their digestion is poor. Instead of digesting all of the food they eat, they only digest about 40% of it and the other 60% is excreted in the dung. The fibers are in the dung because they come from all of the plants, trees, shoots, and other vegetation that elephants eat every day. These fibers are what can be harvested and used to make recycled paper that’s a better alternative to paper that is made from raw materials.

How are these fibers harvested?

The fibers found in elephant dung can be harvested by working with conservation groups that provide the dung to companies making recycled paper.

Aren’t the fibers dirty?

The fibers start out dirty, but they don’t stay dirty for long. Once the fibers have been received, they are cleaned in boiling water so that all of the bacteria and dirt are washed off of them. This cleaning process helps to make recycled paper that is made from elephant dung a healthy and safe choice. It’s also a safer cleaning process because no bleach or other chemicals are used. The process of making recycled paper is kept as natural as possible.

What happens to the fibers after they are cleaned?

After they are cleaned, the fibers are dyed so that the paper that is made can come out in a wide variety of colors. There’s an almost limitless palette of colors available, so recycled paper products are just as good as paper products made from raw materials.

How is the paper made?

After the fibers have been dyed, they are mixed with natural substances. These substances make the fiber mixture thicken so that it can be formed into cakes or patties for making paper. These cakes and patties are placed in mesh trays so that they can be dried off once all of the mixing has taken place. The trays are then placed against trees so that the cakes can face the sun and get dried more quickly. Once the cakes have dried sufficiently, sheets of recycled paper are peeled from the mesh trays.

What is recycled paper used for?

Recycled paper made from elephant dung is used for a wide variety of gift items including journal gifts, stationery sets, and note cards.