A collection of cup holders that slide between your couch cushions. Free to download https://makerworld.com/en/models/1318086-cup-holders-for-sofa-cushions#profileId-1353638
A collection of cup holders that slide between your couch cushions. Free to download https://makerworld.com/en/models/1318086-cup-holders-for-sofa-cushions#profileId-1353638
At some point we need to ask ourselves what we really need & what we don’t need.
Especially where there is a price (I mean more plastics & supporting the industry/system & environmental impact – not just the current financial cost).
The environmental impact of 3D printing is minimal compared to the industrial levels of waste making by corporations.
Sure, but that doesn’t mean we should just print garbage because others are doing worse.
What each individual defines as garbage is up to them. I’m certain there are very very few people who are literally printing garbage on purpose with their 3D printers.
And again the scale of waste is like 2 trillion to 1 comparing corporations to independent hobbyists 3D printing parts.
Being able to 3D print also allows one to repair things that otherwise would just have to be tossed in a landfill because some critical plastic piece broke.
And it allows users to create their own one-off objects that they need rather than a corporation creating an immense surplus of parts the majority of which will never reach consumer hands and will end up in a landfill.
Taking offense at people who 3D print for being bad for the environment is just concern trolling at this point.
This is key. You can 3D print things to fit your exact needs. Mass produced injection molded plastic is only cheap because of the mass production. Molds are expensive. That means they necessarily have to produce a lot more than people need and market them to people who don’t actually need the item in order to make up for the upfront cost.
I’m all for 3d printing things for myself, especially when they serve a purpose and not just a little display piece.
Even if you are creating a display piece and not something functional, it’s something you are making for yourself, and a limited number of them. You aren’t mass producing Funko Pops of which millions will end up in a land fill.