by Anwarul Zaneefer
“Mom - You can’t be serious!” Cried out my daughters, when I
recounted an incredible news scoop that I had gathered from the
Internet. Although this was breaking news to me, I believe the story had
been in focus for a while. Actually it all began, when I was browsing
the internet looking for a picture of an Elephant for my eight year old
son’s class assignment, when this bizarre caption caught my eye. It was
beyond belief!
Curious to find out more, I went to the website, http://www.mrelliepooh.com/
www.mrelliepooh.com and thus established the validity of the story. It
may for some, sound highly amusing or ridiculous but I thought it was
laudable!
Elephants have always been identified with a lot of appealing
adjectives like majestic, magnificent, largest, huge or more often by
the common term wild.
 They have been a part of wildlife, responsible in maintaining
ecological balance in nature. In one way or another Elephants have been
useful to man! But now not only are they recognized for their mighty
appearance but also for their bountiful resource that they provide,
enabling a growth of a new industry. It’s incredible but true, when I
affirm (thanks to my reliable source, the internet) that the waste they
produce is being recycled into paper which is then fashioned into
something more creative.
This renewed paper from the elephant’s dung promoted as “Mr. Ellie
Pooh” paper, goes through several procedures before advancing to the
craft stores! And mind you! during the recycling process, the smell of
dung is completely eliminated.
I have been captivated by these magnificent creatures since
childhood. For years, having lived within close proximity to the
zoological gardens, we were fortunate enough to have had easy access to
see these animals being fed and pampered by the zoo workers. What made
me even more interested in reading about Ellie Pooh was the fact that
the animals talked about, are the Elephants of Sri Lanka, which play a
major role in this remarkable venture.
It is exclusively the dung of Sri Lanka’s Elephants that is
transformed into paper, which is used for making of scrapbooks, cards,
books, note books etc. What a whole lot of discoveries, reading about
this project led me to. The entire recycling process takes place in the
outskirts of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the recycled paper in Sri Lanka is
known as Jumbo Poo paper.
Ellie Pooh and Jumbo Poo are associates working together to bring
about a friendly and pollution free atmosphere. It’s note worthy to
cite, that one of the objectives by the people behind this endeavour is
to bring harmony between the Elephants and the local farmers. This
perception will significantly improve the relationship, no doubt. It
would be no bolt from the blue when the uncontrolled hostility between
man and beast subsequently dies down, by this out of the ordinary
notion.
After that initial uproar, I caught my younger daughter snuffle the
paper cluttered on our computer table, to distinguish the dung variety.
Unfortunately we haven’t to date purchased any, but next time we shop
for paper to scrap, I will, without a doubt mull over Ellie Pooh paper!
I couldn’t ever have imagined that the Elephant’s dung was such a
beneficial article of trade.
With the children on Summer Break, I was determined that this was the
appropriate time for my daughters to divert their attention from their
current favourites - Jodi Picoult, Cornelia Funke and Meg Cabot - to a
different storyline, something dissimilar to the all time favourites:
‘Winnie the Pooh’, which they have all grown accustomed to.
Equipped with more facts in succession, I sat with my foursome and
continued my recounting of the unusual saga of Ellie-Pooh! |
