Handmade notebooks from elephant and rhino dung paper in Assam

The idea

Handmade paper does not have to come from wood. In Assam, retired mining engineer Mahesh Chandra Bora began experimenting at home after reading that paper was being made from elephant dung in Rajasthan. Elephants and one-horned rhinos eat huge amounts of grass and plants that they cannot fully digest, so their dung is full of fibre. Mahesh started with his wife's kitchen blender and window screens, and after repeated trials he had usable sheets. With his daughter Nisha he founded Elrhino in 2014.

The process, as the founders describe it, is simple: dung is cleaned, washed and boiled, turned into pulp, mixed with recycled paper, cotton waste or plant fibres such as banana stem, then pressed and dried. The finished paper becomes notebooks, journals, paper bags, lampshades and playing cards. Its visible flecks and texture tell the story, and that story is what buyers pay for.

The smallest version is a home workshop making notebooks for tourists and stationery shops.

Who it fits

This suits someone who is patient, likes craft work and lives near a wildlife area, a village or a tourist route. You need a small outdoor space for washing and boiling, a table for pressing, and a sunny spot or airy room for drying. It can run beside a job, since batches dry while you are away. A family can share the work: one person makes pulp, another sews or binds.

The same model could work near other reserves, sanctuaries and farm-wildlife borders in Africa, Sri Lanka or Southeast Asia, and with any herbivore waste that is legally and safely available. Cow, horse or farm-animal fibre is an easier starting point.

Costs and revenue

Expect roughly $300 to $1,500 to start. That covers a blender or small pulper, mould-and-deckle frames or screens, a large pot and burner, felts or cloths, a press, binding thread, covers, gloves and basic packaging. These are editorial estimates, not figures from the founders.

A handmade A5 notebook can plausibly sell for around $3 to $8 in tourist shops or at craft fairs, with higher prices for gift sets. A part-time maker producing 150 to 400 notebooks a month might expect roughly $400 to $2,000 in sales, before materials and shop commissions.

Risks and pitfalls

• Legal rules: Collecting dung near protected areas may need permission. Check with the forest department, and buy only from approved or village sources.
• Hygiene: Dung must be boiled thoroughly. Wear gloves, work outdoors and keep tools separate from your kitchen.
• Inconsistent quality: Early sheets may be rough or uneven. Test small batches and keep a record of ratios.
• Slow sales: Tourism is seasonal. Sell online and to shops all year, and add bags or cards.
• Weak story: Plain notebooks will not stand out. Add a card on the origin and on how the money supports local people.