Finding your desk covered in animal dung doesn't have to be a bad thing.
When it's in stationery form, at least.
Whenever entrepreneur Michael Flancman talks about his business, there's usually an elephant in the room. That's because he runs the Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Co., a unique, environmentally conscious company based in Thailand that specializes in turning elephant dung into paper goods and stationery.
Flancman told AOL News that while the idea of repurposing poo into paper may sound gross, in reality, the process is quite simple and sanitary.
Here's how it works: Every week, Flancman and a team of employees visit elephant conservation parks near Chiang Mai to collect naturally dried elephant droppings.
After the poo is gathered, Flancman said it's carefully rinsed with water, leaving only the fibrous materials from the grasses, bamboo and fruits the elephants have eaten but couldn't digest.
Then, Flancman said, those fibers are thrown into a giant pot of boiling water to ensure an even more thorough cleansing and sterilization, leaving the fibers primed and ready to be made into paper.
Once additional fibers from pineapple plants and trees are thrown into the all-natural mix to add thickness, Flancman said his team separates the moist pulp into small cakes that are then spread over a mesh-bottomed tray and left out to dry naturally under the sun for several hours.
Once dry, the cakes transform into sheets of paper, and Flancman and his crew are able to peel them off the tray and start making Poo Poo Paper products.
He said this tedious handmade process is repeated often, and in the end, the paper comes out sturdy and oatmeal-colored without a hint of stinkiness.
Even though it's made of poo, our paper has no smell whatsoever. The boiling of the fibers acts as an antiseptic treatment and takes care of that. We may sell poo for a living, but it doesn't smell like it, explained Flancman. That's the No. 1 question we get about our products. Customers still find themselves sneaking a quick sniff at the stationery, just to make sure.
Rest of article: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/22/eco-friendly-company-makes-paper-out-of-elephant-poo/
When it's in stationery form, at least.
Whenever entrepreneur Michael Flancman talks about his business, there's usually an elephant in the room. That's because he runs the Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Co., a unique, environmentally conscious company based in Thailand that specializes in turning elephant dung into paper goods and stationery.
Flancman told AOL News that while the idea of repurposing poo into paper may sound gross, in reality, the process is quite simple and sanitary.
Here's how it works: Every week, Flancman and a team of employees visit elephant conservation parks near Chiang Mai to collect naturally dried elephant droppings.
After the poo is gathered, Flancman said it's carefully rinsed with water, leaving only the fibrous materials from the grasses, bamboo and fruits the elephants have eaten but couldn't digest.
Then, Flancman said, those fibers are thrown into a giant pot of boiling water to ensure an even more thorough cleansing and sterilization, leaving the fibers primed and ready to be made into paper.
Once additional fibers from pineapple plants and trees are thrown into the all-natural mix to add thickness, Flancman said his team separates the moist pulp into small cakes that are then spread over a mesh-bottomed tray and left out to dry naturally under the sun for several hours.
Once dry, the cakes transform into sheets of paper, and Flancman and his crew are able to peel them off the tray and start making Poo Poo Paper products.
He said this tedious handmade process is repeated often, and in the end, the paper comes out sturdy and oatmeal-colored without a hint of stinkiness.
Even though it's made of poo, our paper has no smell whatsoever. The boiling of the fibers acts as an antiseptic treatment and takes care of that. We may sell poo for a living, but it doesn't smell like it, explained Flancman. That's the No. 1 question we get about our products. Customers still find themselves sneaking a quick sniff at the stationery, just to make sure.
Rest of article: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/22/eco-friendly-company-makes-paper-out-of-elephant-poo/
