By Amanda Froelich
If you weren’t impressed by the Origami pot that grows with your plant, you’re bound to be inspired by this invention capable of producing living gardens.
Project PrintGREEN is transforming 3D printers into on-demand gardeners after it created the world’s first “Green” 3D printer in 2013.
The innovation is capable of producing living prints by printing customized objects in a variety of sizes and forms.
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Credit: Printgreen Tiskajzeleno/Facebook
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Credit: Printgreen Tiskajzeleno/Facebook
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PrintGREEN was created by students Maja Petek, Tina Zidanšek, Urška Skaza, Danica Rženičnik and Simon Tržan, with help from their mentor Dušan Zidar, at the University of Maribor in Slovenia. The team’s goal is to unite art, technology, and nature, creatively producing living designs with the help of technology.
The eco-friendly “ink” is a combination of soil, seeds, and water which can be designed to print in any shape or letter. Once the ink dries, the muddy mixture holds its form and begins to sprout grass from the organic material.
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Credit: Printgreen Tiskajzeleno/Facebook
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Credit: Printgreen Tiskajzeleno/Facebook
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In addition, PrintGREEN is capable of printing along the z-axis to produce bowls and other sculptural shapes. While the objects don’t contain seeds in their structures, they do incorporate a top layer of grass to grow similar to a potted planter.
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Credit: Printgreen Tiskajzeleno/Facebook
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Credit: Printgreen Tiskajzeleno/Facebook
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As ModernMet shares, the slogan of the unique project is a twist on the old conservationist motto, “think before you print.” Instead, they’re telling their audience to “print, because it is green.”
