<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">This is super cool. And a great example of why I think we should become more aware of developing country innovation because their constraints are more likely to embed sustainability design values. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><strong><br></strong></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><strong>----</strong></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><strong><br></strong></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><strong>West African Inventor Makes a $100 3D Printer From E-Waste</strong></div><div dir="auto"><div><a href="http://inhabitat.com/west-african-inventor-makes-a-100-3d-printer-from-e-waste">http://inhabitat.com/west-african-inventor-makes-a-100-3d-printer-from-e-waste</a><br></div><div><div id="column1-column2-wrapper"><div id="column1"><div class="post-listing"><div style="float: left; clear: none; width: 450px; "><br>
<div class="submit-info">by
<a href="http://inhabitat.com/author/timon/" title="Posts by Timon Singh" rel="author">Timon Singh</a>, 10/12/13</div></div><div class="post-content"><ul id="sharebar" style="background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: rgb(228, 235, 227); border-color: rgb(183, 190, 143); width: 70px; margin-left: -87px; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat; "><li><a href="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/10/3d-printer-e-waste-Inventor-and-printer.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-571007" src="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/10/3d-printer-e-waste-Inventor-and-printer-537x357.jpg" alt="3d printer, 3d printing, Kodjo Afate Gnikou, Togo, $100 3d printer, e-cycling, recycling, recycled 3d printer, e-waste, africa, computers" height="357" width="537"></a><su:badge layout="5"></su:badge></li></ul><p>Kodjo Afate Gnikou, a resourceful inventor from Togo in West Africa, has made <a href="http://www.ulule.com/wafate/">a $100 3D printer</a>
which he constructed from parts he scrounged from broken scanners,
computers, printers and other e-waste. The fully functional DIY printer
cost a fraction of those currently on the market, and saves
environmentally damaging waste from reaching landfill sites.</p><p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-570874" src="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/10/DIY-3D-Printer-537x322.jpg" alt="3d printer, 3d printing, Kodjo Afate Gnikou, Togo, $100 3d printer, e-cycling, recycling, recycled 3d printer, e-waste, africa, computers" height="322" width="537"></p><p>Discarded electronic equipment is one of the world’s fastest-growing
sources of waste, as consumers frequently replace “old” models that
become more obsolete each year. However instead of letting e-waste sit
them on the scrap pile or head to the landfill, Kodjo Afate Gnikou
decided to utilize spare parts in order to create a cheap, DIY <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/3d-printing/">3D printer</a>.</p><p>Gnikou is part of <a href="http://www.ulule.com/wafate/">WoeLab</a>, a hackerspace in the city of Lomé, and has big plans for his recycling project. According to his <a href="http://www.ulule.com/wafate/">crowd funding page</a>, he is working with FacLab-France in the <a href="http://2013.spaceappschallenge.org/project/wafate-to-mars/">WAFATE to Mars</a>
project, which aims to make machines from recycled e-waste to prepare
for missions on Mars. Systems like the 3D printer could become a crucial
part of missions on the Red Planet should they ever go ahead.</p><p>Gnikou’s 3D printer was mostly made from materials he obtained from a
junk yard in Lomé, though he did have to buy a few parts. The entire
system cost about $100 which is a bargain considering <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/3d-printing/">current models</a> on the market can cost thousands of dollars.</p><p>According to his fundraising page, Gnikou aims that with his project,
he will “put technology into needy hands and give Africa the
opportunity to not only be a spectator but to play the first role in a
more virtuous industrial revolution.”</p><p>To support Gnikou’s project, <a href="http://www.ulule.com/wafate/">click here</a>.</p></div></div></div></div><div style="overflow: hidden; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: left; border: medium none; "><br></div>sent from <a href="http://eddan.com/">eddan.com</a></div></div></div><br></body></html>