poo paper

Elephants are one of the most unique looking animals with their large trunks and floppy ears. I find them cute ( have you ever seen a baby elephant ?). I don't know when exactly they started being one of my favourite animals but there is this thing about elephants that gives me serenity. I just love how huge they are. 

One place stop which made me the happiest was visiting the elephant orphanage. The orphanage I had visited was the Pinnawala elephant orphanage, Sri Lanka. There were innumerable elephants there and it still fascinates me how the staff remembered each elephants name. There I was lucky enough to witness elephants playing and taking baths in the Pinnawala river. Pinnawala river is a walk of few minutes from the orphanage. 

The best part of learning is that it's never-ending. Every place you go, everyone, you meet teaches you something or the other in a very unknowingly way or in a very direct way. Here on my visit to this orphanage, I learned about paper made from elephant poop. 

It's a very basic fact that elephants are herbivores and because of that their poop is very fibrous. This fact is utilized in making paper and it made me intrigued to know more about it. 

The process of making elephant poop paper includes 

1. Collecting the faeces. The person told us that elephant poop can weigh around 45kgs and weirdly I was not mind blown hearing this fact. Nevertheless, I was mind blown because that elephant poop didn't smell horrible. 

2. Cleaning the faeces -The cleaning process is boiling the faeces with water. It's done to remove bacteria, mud and unwanted materials like dirt and leaves. And then it's removed and left to dry.

3. Mixing the cleaned faeces and adding colours and then blend the cleaned faeces with water. Here the natural colours ( mainly flowers like a red rose, lotus, etc. ) are added to the mixture.

4. Screening - It refers to the process of making a sheet of paper using a frame. The mixture is put on the screen which is kept inside a large tub filled with water. The papermaker taps the fibres to make sure it's evenly spread. The frame has tiny holes in it so when you pick it up the water drains.

5. Drying - The last part is drying the paper in sunlight. After the paper is dried it can be used for making calendars, books, bookmarks and so on. 

( PS - kids don't try the process of making paper with your pet's poop)