Fighting Recession In Australia

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a city in tasmania has found a unique way of fighting the recession blues :
they are making paper out of WOMBAT droppings ( they are cube shaped ! ) and selling the paper to tourists who are eagerly buying it .

does your city/town/state have a more unique way of fighting the recession ?

seems that the wombats are giving tasmania a STIMULUS PACKAGE - and it doesn't increase the national debt .

let's hear it for the WOMBATS !
hbg

and they are even advertising autralian male virility - what more can one ask for ?

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/12/12/wombat_narrowweb__300x321,0.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8006042.stm

Quote:

Wombat droppings are helping an industrial city in Australia fight the effects of the global financial crisis.

Burnie, in the north-west of the state of Tasmania, has been hit by repeated rounds of job cuts.

But despite the gloom, one local industry is thriving by producing handmade paper out of a material no-one else wants - wombat poo.

The novelty paper is a hit with tourists keen to buy a distinctly Australian souvenir from the area.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 5 • Views: 16,888 • Replies: 16

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they should call it Poopyrus

1 Reply

@farmerman,

farmerman :
they did go as far as calling it POOP - i thought i should be a little more discrete .
you know , being a canadian is quite a burden Wink

hbg

1 Reply

@hamburger,

Could they make it into a very soft tissue, and form it into rolls?

0 Replies

Only in Tasmania!

I've never actually seen wombat droppings - the wombats themselves must be much more discreet!

3 Replies

@margo,

Maybe there's this guy that follows them around with a sack and a pair of tweezers.

0 Replies

@margo,

here you go , margo !

http://museumvictoria.com.au/forest/images/mr006826_md.jpg

in german those droppings would be called KOETEL - in case you ever need to know the german translation Wink

hbg

0 Replies

@margo,

margo wrote:

Only in Tasmania!

I've never actually seen wombat droppings - the wombats themselves must be much more discreet!

They're unique....cube-shaped!

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200709/r186799_696725.jpg

http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/september2004/img/f_wombat.jpg

Why?

Quote:

As we mentioned earlier, animal droppings are natural ways of marking territory to prevent confrontation and promote mating. In addition to scent markings, or scents produced by the hormones that animals release, wombats leave their cube-shaped scat as territorial signposts on the tops of rocks and logs. That distinct shape is beneficial since the flat sides of the cubes keep the droppings in place on their precarious locations. If wombat poop was rounded, like that of koalas, it would probably roll off its intended drop point. And since wombats can produce between 80 and 100 pellets per day, stray scats could lead to a lot of disgruntled wombats [source: Wombat Protection Society].

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/wombat-scat1.htm

And more...with a picture of the paper!

That's all very well, you know...but what on earth goes on in their bums to MAKE the damn **** that shape?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/04/2507046.htm

0 Replies

Most likely wombat poo is very high quality (& not-stinky!) poo ... given their vegetarian diet. Sounds a very promising fledgling industry to me! Very Happy

1 Reply

****-shaped!

1 Reply

@margo,

Was that a response to my post? Confused

1 Reply

My wife did her MFA show of specific art works on Hand Made laid paper. She would pulp the materials such as corn stalks, cotton shreds, etc and cook and blend it with sodium carbonate and some whiteners.
Then she would use these molds and deckels to form the paper by dipping the mold into the agitated pulp.
I cant imagine that there is enough wobat scat around to make this an industry. When they add the sodium carboante and other floc inducing substances, the smell will probably disappear.

Does wombat poo have any use as a garden fertilizer or does it follow the rule that dicourage using any poop from soft footed animals for fertilizers.

1 Reply

@msolga,

msolga wrote :

Quote:

Most likely wombat poo is very high quality (& not-stinky!) poo

a/t the article it is EXTREMELY stinky when being processed - but is being "upgraded" during that process .
i think they call it a NATURAL smell Shocked

hbg

0 Replies

@farmerman,

farmerman wrote :

Quote:

Does wombat poo have any use as a garden fertilizer or does it follow the rule that dicourage using any poop from soft footed animals for fertilizers.

when i was growing up , my dad would requisition a load of dung from ships arriving with zoo animals in the port .
it must have been a splendid fertilizer . even though the garden soil was just river sand , we grew great crops of vegetables and fruits , and two pear-trees supplied pears for the whole winter season .

btw the toronto zoo sells bagged ZOO POO as fertilizer .
now there is is talk of setting up a fertilizer fed power station .

http://annmorash.blogspot.com/2008/11/zoo-poo-to-energy.html

in europe , powerstaions to produce electricity (via bio-gas) are quite common .
hbg

0 Replies

Would that be a shitty sheet of paper?

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The best kept secret in the smoking accesories trade:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/arcadia.bell/Rizother/a06_2c1.gif

Marketed as licorice flavored...

0 Replies

@msolga,

Quote:

Was that a response to my post?

Not at all! It was meant to be a sort of word play on ship-shape - but I guess it fell flat! If you have to explain, it ain't no good! Sad

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Fighting Recession In Australia

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