Elephant Dung Greetings Cards

At Jaipur, in India, the company Elephant Stamp is enjoying success in business, all down to the unique take it has demonstrated on the production of traditional greetings cards – because the materials employed by Ijender Shewhawat and his company – are the undigested grass and leaf fibres found in elephant dung.

So well received has this been that the innovative Ijender plans to process as much as 30 tons of elephant dung monthly, in order to extract the necessary materials needed to meet demand for the cards, which is growing so much that expansion plans are being made.

Business, despite people fearing that the cards will smell, is booming, and in actual fact the cards produced in this factory smell as sweet as any other on the market, despite the unusual make-up of these unusual cards.

In utilising the grass and leaf fibres passing through the elephant stomach undigested, ijender produces special paper to make the cards. He is relying on the biological fact of the gastrointestinal tract of the animals being unable to properly digest fibres, meaning that some 40% goes through softened and pre-pulped, but otherwise untouched, meaning that these elements of the dung, when pressed and processed, make fantastic paper. 

Expansion of his Elephant Stamp – Haathi Chaap - business to include delivery to European customers is definitely part of the plans for this forward looking businessmen, so hopefully, these amazing examples of true environmental recycling will soon be available on UK high streets.