A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#1

Post by sudo_cowsay » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 3:52 AM UTC

A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste
instructables.com

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#2

Post by bogometer » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:24 AM UTC

bravo! so much better than a landfill

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#3

Post by atonse » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:52 AM UTC

The only comforting thing to me about the waste (apart from the fact that our personal 3d printer waste is a margin of error compared to industrial waste so honestly, just don’t worry about it), is that at least PLA is biodegradable.

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#4

Post by esquire_900 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:53 AM UTC

So the author recycled 10 pounds of plastic, but used 8.5 pounds of glue to do so (184 sticks at 0.74 oz which seems to be average for glue sticks).

Cool project, but that ratio seems very ineffective. Especially since there is a realistic chance this ends up in landfill within some decades anyway.

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#5

Post by chneu » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:56 AM UTC

esquire_900 wrote: post #4

So the author recycled 10 pounds of plastic, but used 8.5 pounds of glue to do so (184 sticks at 0.74 oz which seems to be average for glue sticks). Cool project, but that ratio seems very ineffective. Especially since there is a realistic chance this ends up in landfill within some decades anyway.

Honestly wtf does the glue matter when people are going through plastic like it's nothing? Bringing up the glue is such a weird nitpick.

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#6

Post by ofrzeta » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 5:32 AM UTC

chneu wrote: post #5

esquire_900 wrote: post #4

So the author recycled 10 pounds of plastic, but used 8.5 pounds of glue to do so (184 sticks at 0.74 oz which seems to be average for glue sticks). Cool project, but that ratio seems very ineffective. Especially since there is a realistic chance this ends up in landfill within some decades anyway.

Honestly wtf does the glue matter when people are going through plastic like it's nothing? Bringing up the glue is such a weird nitpick.

When the ratio is almost 1:1 it is a bit more than a nit.

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#7

Post by isoprophlex » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 5:33 AM UTC

chneu wrote: post #5

esquire_900 wrote: post #4

So the author recycled 10 pounds of plastic, but used 8.5 pounds of glue to do so (184 sticks at 0.74 oz which seems to be average for glue sticks). Cool project, but that ratio seems very ineffective. Especially since there is a realistic chance this ends up in landfill within some decades anyway.

Honestly wtf does the glue matter when people are going through plastic like it's nothing? Bringing up the glue is such a weird nitpick.

Do nothing: 10 pounds of filament poop has go to the landfill.

Do this thing: 10 pounds of filament poop still exists, + 8 pounds of glue sticks (which is basically a thermoplastic) used, to create something that's eventually going to end up in a landfill.

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

Recycling or reuse is not as useful as just not creating waste in the first place.

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#8

Post by staplor » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 5:33 AM UTC

chneu wrote: post #5

esquire_900 wrote: post #4

So the author recycled 10 pounds of plastic, but used 8.5 pounds of glue to do so (184 sticks at 0.74 oz which seems to be average for glue sticks). Cool project, but that ratio seems very ineffective. Especially since there is a realistic chance this ends up in landfill within some decades anyway.

Honestly wtf does the glue matter when people are going through plastic like it's nothing? Bringing up the glue is such a weird nitpick.

hot glue is a petrochemical just like plastic.

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#9

Post by ofrzeta » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 5:34 AM UTC

staplor wrote: post #8

chneu wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly wtf does the glue matter when people are going through plastic like it's nothing? Bringing up the glue is such a weird nitpick.

hot glue is a petrochemical just like plastic.

It is plastic, nothing else.

Re: A Koi Pond Mosaic Made from 10 Pounds of 3D Printer Waste

#10

Post by sudo_cowsay » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 5:35 AM UTC

isoprophlex wrote: post #7

chneu wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly wtf does the glue matter when people are going through plastic like it's nothing? Bringing up the glue is such a weird nitpick.

Do nothing: 10 pounds of filament poop has go to the landfill. Do this thing: 10 pounds of filament poop still exists, + 8 pounds of glue sticks (which is basically a thermoplastic) used, to create something that's eventually going to end up in a landfill. Are you being deliberately obtuse? Recycling or reuse is not as useful as just not creating waste in the first place.

So... don't 3D print anything?