The innovations and advances that have occurred as of late in terms of recycling, repurposing and reusing plastic waste are tremendous. It really is rather mind-blowing when you allow yourself to pause and acknowledge just how far we have come in the context of environmental conservation, and we aren’t finished yet.
It’s pretty bloody awesome.
And, on the topic of bloody awesome advancements on an environmental scale, in addition to feeling good about recycling, according to an article from The Good News Network, you can also make money while you’re at it.
“This article, by Joshua M. Pearce of Michigan Technological University, has been republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
“People will recycle if they can make money doing so. In places where cash is offered for cans and bottles, metal and glass recycling has been a great success. Sadly, the incentives have been weaker for recycling plastic. As of 2015, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled. The rest pollutes landfills or the environment.
“But now, several technologies have matured that allow people to recycle waste plastic directly by 3D-printing it into valuable products, at a fraction of their normal cost. People are using their own recycled plastic to make decorations and gifts, home and garden products, accessories and shoes, toys and games, sporting goods and gadgets from millions of free designs. This approach is called distributed recycling and additive manufacturing, or DRAM for short.
“Research has shown this approach to recycling and manufacturing is not only better for the environment, but it is also highly profitable for individual users making their own products, as well as for small- and medium-sized businesses. Making your own products from open source designs simply saves you money,” says the article.
There ya have it, ladies and gentlemen. Be sure to check out the entire article, linked above, to learn more.
ontheedgeofeverything 