3D Hubs launches REMAKE3D campaign to change how 3D prints are made, and support a waste free future. Submit your epic fails to win prizes!

Additive manufacturing is making some powerful, important changes to the way we make things. The ability to design complex and custom models, and then 3D print them with virtually zero excess, has inspired everyone from NASA to Local Motors.

But the environmental friendliness of 3D printing remains somewhat… hypothetical. It assumes that 3D printers and makers get their prints right every time. The reality is that with this new technology, hobbyists and businesses alike have to tinker with a lot of prototypes, and behind them is a veritable mountain of failed print jobs.

In order to learn how to print, you first have to learn all the ways how not to print, right?

Maker community 3D Hubs recognizes this problem of sustainability, and has come up with a brilliant solution. Under the REMAKE3D banner, they’re opening a trio of Recycling Hubs in key locations around the world.

With the help of mayors @CharlotteJ in Breda, @AtomJaay in Boston and @Cinter in London, these hubs will take failed prints from the community and upcycle them into a new filament for 3D printing.

Plus, to promote awareness of the campaign, they’re asking the community to share their biggest printing fails. Whatever horrible disasters are lurking on our collective print-beds, they want to see it (and laugh at it).

You can join in the fun by sharing your best pics on social media with hashtag #REMAKE3D. The three hubs with the most popular pics will receive a free spool of fully recycled filament from Refil.

You may lose some dignity, perhaps, but you’ll also be losing a whole heap of useless plastic in your workspace. And you’ll be helping to change 3D printing for the better.

Main image source: MAKE