Today’s post is about an off-the-wall and perhaps silly or gross but also clever way to use elephant dung. Yep, I’m not joking. Those straw-laden masses of excrement may wind up being processed into actual products thanks to the Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company. Anyway, squeamishness aside, the company’s unusual but creative way to turn a literal waste product into photo albums, paper, and the other stationary items found in their “Poo-tique” store has merits aside from the novelty of presenting your friends or family with a wacky present. On their website, the company states, “Our purpose is to successfully sell our goods in order to complete a truly creative sustainable cycle: where raw materials with little other use are utilized to make a useful and functional product all the while providing jobs and opportunity along the way and ultimately selling our goods at a profit from which a portion is directed to a worthwhile cause: elephant welfare and conservation.”

For those of you wondering about the aroma of products made with such material, they do not stink. Fresh elephant dung is allowed to dry completely before it gets rinsed and washed. What’s left is the undigested vegetative material from what the elephants ate, which doesn’t smell bad and is apparently excellent for making paper.

With the holidays coming up, if Santa doesn’t bring that new cellphone or a New Year’s trip to somewhere warm doesn’t pan out, an elephant inspired journal or notepaper may at least make for interesting conversation with the relatives, all while helping to protect the pachyderms.

- Justin Manger

[Image Credit: http://www.poopoopaper.com/]