Ellington

No, it's not a tongue twister. Then again, maybe it is - spittle included. Here's a little tidbit that is an example of how recycling can be taken to a whole new level. A smelly new level, but a new level nonetheless.

BEIJING - There's a new Chinese saying: When life hands you panda poop, make paper. Researchers at a giant panda reserve in southern China are looking for paper mills to process their surplus of fiber-rich panda excrement into high quality paper.

Liao Jun, a researcher at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base in Sichuan province, said the idea came to them after a visit to Thailand last year where they found paper made from elephant dung. They thought panda poop would produce an even finer quality paper, he said.

The base is currently in talks with several paper mills on how to turn the droppings of Jing Jing, Ke Bi, Ya Ya and dozens of other pandas at the base into reams of office paper and rolls of wrapping paper, said Liao.

I can hear it now: "One pack of Ya Ya Paper, please."

The center's 40 bamboo-fed pandas produce less than a ton of droppings a day, but Liao said he was not sure yet how much paper would result.

Good grief! Do they do anything else other than poop? My mom's dog has nothing on them, and that little stinker can do some damage.

Making paper there involves a daylong process of cleaning the feces, boiling it in a soda solution, bleaching it with chlorine and drying it under the sun.

EWWWWWWW!

According to Liao, the paper is sanitary, and no one would know that the paper came from panda poop. All I have to say is this: If the paper I'm using is made of doo-doo, don't tell me. Ignorance is bliss, you know.