This handmade lotka paper is made in the highlands of Nepal by rural craftspeople in an environmentally friendly process with 50% recycled content. The raw material for our paper is the Daphne bush. It is farmed and harvested from 3-4 year old plants that are cut down and stripped of their bark. The plant is not destroyed when cut down, it regenerates from the root. The cane like stick, once its bark is removed is dried and used to heat the villager’s homes, to provide fuel for cooking and also for the production of the paper. All of the water used in the paper production is reclaimed and reused. The bark is beaten by hand and boiled to break it down to a pulp (where it is mixed in with recycled pulp and paper scrap collected from the card and envelope manufacturing process) that is then pored into screens to form the sheets. These sheets are then dried in the sun. The whole process is not only earth friendly but also provides a large community with a healthy enterprise.

If you plant this paper in a pot, or in your garden please cover with just 1/8” of soil and keep moist until established.

Germination may begin as quickly as one week or may take up to six weeks depending on your regional growing zone.