Based out of Chhaygaon, Assam, the Elrhino team
comprises of 9 full-time paper makers. In addition
to that, they have a fairly large (25+) network of
community members who do home-based crafts
work. Of course, the process from dung to paper is not
without effort. ‘Sun drying dung takes several days,
depending on the atmospheric conditions. From dry
dung to paper, the process is fairly efficient and can be
completed in 48 hours.’
Elrhino produces a range of stationery and home/
gift products that are currently available on their
Facebook store and can also be bought off their
catalogue. ‘The bulk of our work is in custom orders –
we produce hang tags, conference & office stationery,
wedding collaterals and a wide range of similar
bespoke products for discerning consumers who
derive satisfaction as well as strategic benefit from
using a green product and brand such as ours.’
Lessons Learnt
Like all growing businesses in the region,
Elrhino has faced its own share of challenges. But the
father-daughter duo has found a way to transform
the obstacles into lessons for success. ‘Our rural
community is agri-based and follow the rhythms of
Mother Earth. For any initiative that wants to work
with local communities at a large scale as well as with
replicable cycles, this is always going to be the biggest
challenge, by a long shot. Understanding how to weave
your plans through the threads of the socio-economic-
cultural reality of the community, is absolutely key
and hugely underrated. There’s also no such thing
as a free lunch. Indiscriminate government welfare
schemes without accountability tend to damage more
than help. It’s taught us a great deal about the grey
area between charity and exploitation (both poverty
perpetuating), and walking the fine line between the
two.’
‘I don’t know if environmental
benefit need necessarily be
the motivating factor for
environmentally sound business
practices in the Northeast. I am
a bit wary about this because I
do believe that there is a lot of
greenwashing, which cannot
be good for business or for the
environment. However, there is an
urgent need for every business to
be designed around sustainability
and a triple bottomline. The
moment businesses start to speak
a language of sustainability,
they cannot but factor in the
environment. In a nutshell –
do good business, measure RoI
against triple bottomline, and
you absolutely will benefit the
environment. The Northeast
must lead the way in placing
sustainability at the core of
all business planning. At the
moment, we are far from it;
on the contrary, we are highly
exploitative of our forests and
natural water systems,’ shares
Nisha