You may have heard of 3D-printing pens before: devices like the 3Doodler which turn plastic filaments into a gel that hardens in the air 鈥� letting users create impressive freehand sculptures in the process.
But while these are all well and great, new Kickstarter project Renegade wants to solve the accompanying problem of cost and waste which comes with having to buy often pricey filaments for the pens in question. In aid of this mission, creator Daniel Edwards has invented a 3D-printing pen that works by recycling household plastic waste such as plastic bottles, files, and bags.
鈥淲e often use 3D printing for our projects, so we were regularly exposed to the price of standardized filaments,鈥� Edwards tells Digital Trends. 鈥淎fter paying $100 for a 3D pen and being obliged to buy its filaments for $10 per 50g pack, we couldn鈥檛 help but think this [was] crazy!鈥� Edwards also notes that he is painfully aware of 鈥渢he mountains of used plastic bottles and bags that continue to critically pollute our environment.鈥�
Combining these two concerns together resulted in the creation of Renegade. To fill the pen with recycled plastic, Edwards is also offering a device called a ChupaCut, capable of turning plastic bottles into single ribbons of 3D-printable material. Of course, if you want to keep on spending the money (and miss a chance to to aid the environment), it鈥檚 also possible to use regular filaments.
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