Thailand Adventure

I recently took a trip to Thailand, an adventure of sorts, which was kind of for school, but mostly for fun. I traveled for two weeks, starting at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, where worked at the Elephant Dung Paper factory. I spent all day transforming poop into paper and it was amazing. I know you are curious, so here is how it works:

It all starts here.

Then the dung is dumped into this vat of water for washing. We wade in in giant boots to break up the pieces, kind of like smashing grapes for wine.  

Then it is boiled for several hours over this wood fire. 

During the boiling process crystals of hydrogen peroxide is added to kill any bacteria that might be present. It is dung after all. 

This is what it looks like after boiling, completely odorless, but pretty grassy.

We then process the dung in this machine for 2-4 hours to cut up the fibers. The time varies depending on the elephant's diet. 

The result is much smoother, and looks a lot like sugar cookie dough. 

We each take a screen and sift through it to remove any large fibers or chunks of peroxide, this makes for a smoother paper. 

Small amounts of glue and fabric softener are mixed in.

The dung is rolled into 4 gram balls.

Then we dilute it in water, and spread it evenly over a screen in these trays. Any inconsistencies will be present in the paper.  

After it settles, the trays are very carefully lifted from the water and allowed to drain.

Finally the paper dries in the sun. 

Because elephants eat grasses and fruit their dung is very fertile and makes wonderful papyrus-like paper. The paper is sold as is, and turned into other products by the women of the village. Proceeds are returned to the TECC to buy more elephant food, thus a cycle of conservation is born. 

Check back for the next part of my journey, Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary.