Grace Du Prez teaches workshops on how to create designs using the 3Doodler. However, learning how to use the pen can result in a lot of waste. Du Prez came up with an ingenious way of recycling the wasted filament.

If you grow frustrated by the amount of plastic which can’t be recycled and want to do something about it, creating your own jewelry or decorations could be an option.

Grace Du Prez came up with an interesting idea for recycling waste. Du Prez runs a workshop which teaches people how to use the 3D pen 3Doodler. After each class, she would collect leftover ABS plastic filament and put it into a jar for safekeeping.

In order to reuse the plastic, Du Prez came up with a crafty idea. She began by blending the scraps, then heated them into shapes on a toaster. By using simple household appliances, she created interesting, colorful jewelry.

The process is easy to do at home and, with a little imagination, enables you to create anything from coasters to rings. By building up the simple shapes, Du Prez also builds larger decorations, such as bowls.

She has created a video to show how this process works and hopes to inspire the 3Doodler community to reuse their own plastic waste. Check out the simple yet brilliant idea below:

Turn Used Filament into Beautiful Designs

To create the designs and melt the plastic, Du Prez uses small cake tins called Petit Four Tins. The reason for choosing these tins is that they’re non-stick and very thin, allowing the plastic to melt quickly.

If you’re struggling for gift ideas and have a lot of wasted filament, this might be your solution. However, if you don’t like the multi-color option, why not separate the filament strands and create single color designs?

Inspired to begin creating your own artwork from scraps? First, consider a few safety instructions. Upwards, created by 3Doodler, explain that for this process you should; work in a well-ventilated area, wear protective gear such as oven gloves and a dust mask and don’t use the tools again for food preparation. Children should not try this process on their own.

If your grill has control settings, it’s worth using following 3Doodler’s temperature recommendations: ABS plastic at 220°C, PLA plastic between 180 – 200°C and 3Doodler Start plastic at 80°C. However, don’t try FLEXY plastic.

Raring to get creating? All you need to do is begin plastic collecting and you can soon build up your collection of recycled jewelry or home decorations.

Source: Upwards