In Colorado, according to a new study, coffee could also help reduce the waste from 3D printing. Researchers at CU Boulder have developed a method for 3D printing a wide range of objects using a paste made entirely out of old coffee grounds, water and a few other sustainable ingredients.
The team has already experimented with using coffee grounds to craft jewelry, pots for plants and even, fittingly, espresso cups. The technique is also simple enough that it will work, with some modifications, on most low-cost, consumer-grade 3D printers.
The group presented its findings this summer at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Designing Interactive Systems conference in Pittsburgh.
