For the most part they are trying to move to PLA, which has several advantages, the most important being it's biodegradable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid Thanks, DougM On Sun, Jun 3, 2012 at 9:54 AM, Kirk Wallace <kwall...@wallacecompany.com> wrote: > These printers are very clever and the products entertaining, but I have > issues with how they fit in with the big picture. Plastic, over a the > long run has very limited utility, but never goes away and stays toxic. > What is going to happen to all of these busts of Yoda once the > entertainment value has worn off? > > I prefer to work with the materials nature provides, and which we have > become environmentally and biologically used to - metals, wood, rock, > dirt, etcetera. > > >From the http://zerowasteinstitute.org/ website. > > " > If you ask the wrong question you will get the wrong answer! > > Consider this: most people facing the generation of waste ask precisely > the wrong question. The question they ask is this – how can I make use > of this waste product so that it will be used, not wasted? Generations > of people have wasted their time and their society’s time with this > wrong question. > > This would be the better question? “How do I change what I (we) are > doing so that we no longer produce any waste products?” Find that answer > and you have really solved a problem worth solving. The best part is > that you won’t have to keep seeking the earlier, wrong answer, over and > over. You won’t have any waste product to find new uses for. Everything > will be used up automatically. We can’t focus so strenuously on past > mistakes that we never get to design a better future. It’s like the > classical difference between giving a man a fish and showing him how to > fish. At least while there are still fish to catch (nowadays worth > thinking about) you can offer a structural, not a temporary solution. > " > > I feel CNC machining helps people on this list to explore reinventing > the use of nature derived materials, which naturally recycle, to both > create designs that minimize waste and maximize product longevity. > > -- > Kirk Wallace > http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ > http://www.wallacecompany.com/E45/index.html > California, USA > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Live Security Virtual Conference > Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and > threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions > will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware > threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users