Eclectic Northeast – July 2019

58 │ │ July 2019

feature

W

hen you use a piece of paper to scribble

something funny to amuse yourself during

a boring meeting or write down a list of

veggies and groceries that you will throw away as

soon as you are done paying the cashier, you tend to

think very little of the trees being cut down across the

planet to make that precious paper. With all this talk

about cutting down on plastic use and going vegan,

one topic that isn’t coming up in conversation as much

as it should is the need to switch to wood free paper.

Thankfully, some forward thinking entrepreneurs

around the world are taking the first steps towards

that much-needed switch, including a passionate

father and daughter duo, right here in Assam. Mahesh

Bora and Nisha Bora are heading a company called

ENe Bureau

Taking the unconventional route, Elrhino is making wood-free paper from

rhino and elephant dung

The Poop Scoop

Elrhino that makes paper from rhino and elephant

dung.

From Dung to Paper

The inspiration came to Mahesh when he read

an article about dung paper being made elsewhere.

A retired mining engineer, he has always been

passionate about doing something beneficial for the

environment and for Assam. ‘The article triggered a

journey of research and enquiry that brought him to

Elrhino. He viewed it, and we still do, as a meaningful

way to provide sustainable alternatives to wood based

paper, while also reducing man-animal conflict,’

shared Nisha.