As far as the old saying "waste not, want not" goes, people have long been practicing the act of conservation -utilize of everything that can be used so as not to waste anything in the process. But this old motto comes to life as news of elephant poop being turned into paper makes headlines.

Thanks to a project by Tim Husband, a former zookeeper in Cairns, Australia, tons of highly-fibrous elephant dung in Indonesia is being turned into paper. Under the project, each of the elephants at Bali's Safari and Marine Park eats approximately 180 kilograms of grass daily, which in turn, produces 100kg of dung a day.

With the villagers help, dung is collected and with each pile of poop comes 15 sheets of high-quality hand-made paper, reported the Courier-Mail.

However, this technique is not only for elephant waste, but for other fiber-eating animals as well, like horses, moose, pandas, sheep, and kangaroos. In fact, back in 2005, Creative Paper Tasmania had plans to use kangaroo poo and turn it into stationeries, reported MSNBC.com.

Turning actual waste into something useful stems from the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand, where the paper from waste helps fund conservation programs.

This recycling of products is made possible because the digestive system of elephants don't really break down the vegetation all that well, leaving their waste still highly fibrous. Since fiber is the main ingredient to make paper, poop from paper becomes possible.

Essentially, one of the processes of turning dung into paper starts with collection. The waste collected is then boiled and then washed. For some, it is washed repeatedly until half it has lost half of its original weight. This process can also create liquid fertilizer. After washing, piles of fiber are then turned into pulp which is molded into paper. After it dries, odorless paper is ready to be used.

This novel idea not only gives new use for animal waste, but it also saves the trees and the environment. According to Ecology Global Network, the world consumption of paper has increased by 400% in the last 40 years, using up nearly 4 billion trees, or 35% of the total trees cut around the world.

And with different companies from different countries doing their part - using poop for paper - less trees will be cut.