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Story of the CWP ReCreateIt Water Bottles
Check out the reusable water bottles we're sponsoring for the Carter Work Project 2025! This sponsorship aligns perfectly with our mission to explore the potential of using recycled plastic for 3D printing. The bottles come in two colors: ReCreateIt Blue and Habitat Green. On one side of the bottle, you'll find the ReCreateIt logo in black. On the other side of the bottle, you will find an Austin, Texas 2025 graphic in blue or green. Turning Bottles into Research Material Our goal with this sponsorship is simple: at the end of the Carter Work Project 2025, if the volunteers decide not to keep their water bottles, they'll have the option to donate them back to us at a designated collection site. And we can use them as 3D printing material for testing purposes, to help us learn more about this plastic type. The water bottles are made from Type 2 plastic, High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE). It is a material that we don't have a lot of experience to print with, but we think it has great potential. So far, we have been primarily using Type 5 Polypropylene (PP) as printing material, since that's what we receive most often in donations. However, Type 2 HDPE is the second most common type of plastic in donations, and is very commonly used in bottles and bins that often end up in the trash. Giving this material more attention and research feels like the right next step. Design and Sustainability Details We chose the frosty white bottles to minimize complications during testing, since colored plastics tend to contain more additives. They are also BPA-free, making them safer and less likely to release harmful chemicals during test printing process. The blue, green and black accent colors are ones that we have successfully tested before, and they tend to blend well with transparent/frosty materials. Every design choice was made to ensure the highest possible success rate for testing. Inside the event swag bag, you'll find a tag attached to your water bottle. The first note on the tag asks you not to put stickers on the bottle. This is because we want the test sample to be as less contaminated as possible. Any residue from stickers may make the bottle disqualified as 3D printing material. The tag itself is printed by GreenerPrinter, a company we admire for their commitment to sustainability. Like us, they are actively working to reduce environmental pollution. They source their paper from New Leaf Paper, a business that produces exclusively recycled paper. They also use soy and vegetable based inks, and purchase renewable energy from a local provider. GreenerPrinter continuously refines its processes to be as non-toxic and eco-friendly as possible. Shared Goals and Lasting Impact We're thrilled to collaborate with like-minded organizations, businesses and individuals to further reduce our impact on the environment. By donating your water bottle back to us, you'll be supporting our research on using Type 2 plastic for 3D printing and giving the material a new life. Of course, we'll be just as happy if you decide to keep and use your water bottle and use it. It's a great reminder of our common goal to lead sustainable lifestyles and provide affordable homes for people. Besides, It's pretty cute too!
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Honoring President Carter Through Local Innovation
Austin Habitat’s ReCreateIt program is giving new life to used water bottles from the 2025 Carter Work Project, turning them into creative home goods and celebrating President Carter’s legacy through hands-on community innovation.
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Behind the Scenes: How Donated Plastics Become Printer-Ready
From Donations to Raw Material A cornerstone element of our project is the use of recycled plastic. Donated and salvaged plastic often needs a little work before being printer ready. Our plastic preparation process happens before printing and includes sorting, cleaning, cutting down, and granulating. The plastic that we use for the project all comes through the donation drive at the ReStore. Most donated goods arrive in plastic bins, and it’s rare that the owners want them back. Sometimes the bins are in good shape and make their way to the sales floor, but most of the time they’re too worn out to reuse. Most of the bins are broken, faded, or missing handles and lids, but that’s fine by us. Plastic is plastic! We just make sure to pull out anything that’s too dirty since oil, rust, and other grime aren’t great for the printer Identifying the Right Plastics From the secondhand store’s discard pile, we pick out plastic waste that can be reused for 3D printing. There are five common types of recyclable plastic, usually identified by a number inside the recycling symbol on each item. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE): Used for beverage bottles and packaging. High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE): Used for milk jugs, detergent bottles, and pipes. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Found in pipes, window profiles, and some food packaging. Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE): Used for plastic bags, films, and flexible containers. Polypropylene (PP): Commonly used for food containers, bottle caps, and automotive parts. Most of the waste we’ve collected this year has been polypropylene. The clear tubs are made from it, and we’ve used that material for much of our testing. These bins are available in large quantities and a variety of shades and colors, allowing us to experiment with a wide range of products in different color combinations. We’ve recently found high-density polyethylene to be very suitable for use as a feedstock for the printer, and are currently running some tests on using HDPE more in the lab. Sorting, Cleaning, and Tracking After sorting donations by recycling group and color, we weigh and record each piece of plastic to keep track of where it goes in the process. We follow it from the time it’s accepted to when it’s granulated and eventually printed. We all realized it was a lot more tedious to clean whole bins than a few flat sheets, so now we break the material down into flats. My favorite part is rinsing the sheets to get rid of all the grime and peeling off any stickers or decals. It can be repetitive, but it’s also a nice chance to relax, talk, and work alongside a teammate. Granulating the Plastic We cut the larger sheets from former bins into narrower strips, since the granulator’s opening is limited in size. The granulator then grinds these strips into plastic flakes roughly the size of coarse coffee grounds. Strips of plastic are dosed out in containers (Plastic bins – who’d have guessed…) in batches of about 6-7 kilograms, just enough to fill up the hopper in our granulator. We feed these batches of plastic sheets through our granulator, and in a cool 20 minutes or so, we’re left with a batch of plastic flakes, ready to be logged, and soon turned into something amazing!
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Introducing Our Sustainable Products
We have successfully printed various products that are both high-quality and visually appealing. Our printing process produces a unique, layered texture with a smooth, semi-transparent, matte finish and soft, gradient colors. Because our goal is to work with plastic waste, we use materials that naturally shape the look of our products. These plastics do not produce ultra-fine layers, which gives each piece its characteristic ribbed texture, a distinctive detail that highlights both the material’s origin and the 3D printing process. Colors from Recycled Materials The colors of our products come entirely from the original materials. We do not use any additional dyes or colorants in the process. When the plastic waste is processed, we group it in similar hues and shades. Once granulated, it turns into colorful plastic flakes, ready for the Gigabot 3D printer. At first, we primarily worked with frosty, transparent, and black plastic waste. As the project evolved, we began experimenting with a wider range of colors, fine-tuning the Gigabot printer's settings to suit each new material. Along the way, we discovered that combining different colors can lead to unexpectedly stunning results. Sometimes a new shade of color, sometimes a cool gradient effect. Collaborative Design Innovation The design of our products comes from our research partner Dr. Carolyn Seepersad’s team at UT Austin and Georgia Tech. Dr. Seepersad’s team has been developing a design tool that allows people to customize certain parameters of a pre-made 3D printing design, such as scaling it up or down, adding surfaces, and adjusting shapes. The design tool has helped us make a variety of modern vases and planters. Original Creations by Our Team While experimenting with the design tool and customizing templates, our associates also took the opportunity to create original designs. They have successfully printed self-designed products such as scoopers, bonsai planters, and custom lampshades. Creating lampshades for donated lamps that didn’t have them has been especially fun. It gives the lamps a new life on the shelf and a chance to brighten someone’s home again, all while helping to reduce waste and pollution. Who would have thought that a high-tech 3D-printed plastic lampshade could look so great alongside a vintage lamp? These products show how recycled plastic can take on new shapes and uses, from everyday home goods to one-of-a-kind pieces. And we’re just getting started!
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ReCreateIt in Color: A Mural with a Mission
From waste to home: Michelle Wilson’s mural captures our journey of innovation, sustainability, and community impact in Austin.
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From Waste to Worth: ReCreateIt Begins at Austin ReStore
This post takes you inside the process, the people behind it, and the progress we are making along the way.
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