America, the Land of 3D Printed Eco-Dreams

We love those success stories that occasionally come out of American news, where someone undertakes a seemingly lost cause and by doing so finds a simple solution to a problem that afflicted many. Naturally, since it takes place in

America, the idea ends up spawning a healthy business where everyone profits, either through a better quality of life (the customers) or through hard earned revenues (the inventors).

Featured on Fox and NBC news, Anita Redd’s is one of those happy end stories, with a 3D printed twist that might make it even better. To cure her son’s extreme form of eczema without resorting to powerful chemical drugs such as cortisone, Anita invented a natural balm. It worked. Now her balm is sold as a valid alternative to naturally soothe and even cure the symptoms of one to the most bothersome and sometimes even painful types of skin rashes.

Anita Redd made her miracle ointment mostly out of olive oil and beeswax. As it is completely natural it would seem only “natural” that it would be sold in eco-compatible containers. So Anita turned to Kickstarter to seek funding for manufacturing sustainable containers using biodegradable PLA pellets and 3D printers. Her campaign seeks out 10,000 dollars to purchase the machines (printers and filament extruders) and the material necessary to produce the new biodegradable and compostable containers, starting from the one ounce prototype.

A mother curing her son and finding a natural cure for thousands, green containers and de-localized, sustainable manufacturing: can there be a better recipe to success?