3D Printing & Its Role As An Environmentally Friendly Technology

[Brian_Krassenstein]

When 3D printing began to emerge into the mainstream, many people touted it as the ultimate green, zero-waste alternative to traditional manufacturing methods. It hasn't quite lived up to those expectations - the amount of energy used by 3D printers remains a concern, as do fumes and excess plastic. However, the 3D printing industry and its consumers are a largely conscientious and responsible lot, and manufacturers and makers alike have developed ingenious solutions to not only the environmental problems posed by 3D printers, but to wider environmental issues on a global level. On the whole, 3D printing has done a great deal of good for the environment. Read more at 3DPrint.com: https://3dprint.com/144928/3d-printing-environmental/

[curious aardvark]

When energy companies are investing in nuclear power (the least clean and most expensive type of energy there is) instead of solar (the cleanest and cheapest) does it really matter what a minority do with their plastic ?

I don't know, I guess I'm just termnally cynical, but whenever I see an 'enviromentally friendly' sticker, I just think it's a marketing ploy aimed at yuppies.

[awerby]

I have to agree - people who do 3D printing generally want to feel good about what they're doing, but like every industrial product, these machines are dependent on the world-wide network of extractive industries - they need steel, for instance, which is made by reacting iron ore with coal, and electronics, which use a huge amount of resources to produce. The alleged benefits amount to tinkering around the margins - making a few homes for bees and some biodegradable six-pack holders is very nice, but not exactly significant in the big scheme of things. And some of the claims we hear, like how 3D printed corals are going to replace the real thing, are just blatantly ridiculous.

But if you stay home and print things, at least you're not driving around in your gas-guzzling SUV and polluting the environment, right?