The Inevitable Inaugural Post

 Hello World. 

Some of you may know I have a website on a hosted server with Digital Pacific who are a pretty good - no, let me rephrase that - an excellent hosting services provider here in Australia and whose services I've used for at least a decade by now, for various websites. Nope I am not getting anything for this endorsement but I feel that the service I've received and the uptime of my various sites on their servers is exemplary and so I have no hesitation in recommending them. 

(Well, if DP ever wanted to sponsor me in the future I wouldn't complain, but at the time of writing this is a totally unsolicited testimonial. Also, if, as you read on in this and subsequent posts and get what I'm doing and would like to sponsor / donate / help out in any way, I'll have my sidebars and footers sorted fairly soon and would really welcome any way I can collaborate with you to make it happen.)

So, What Do I Do?

Okay. This is difficult to write up in one blog post but I can summarise. I've always been a bit concerned (and believe me I've had time to become so, I'm almost 65 at the time I'm writing this) about the waste problem. It's taken several decades for it to come to a head within me but I finally started to do some serious thinking about what I can do just before the pandemic started. It's taken a few more years but I've now evolved a bit of a plan and a bit of a system and (as one does) started learning about 3D printing in early 2021. Yes there are reasons. I said this was going to be difficult to do in one go. 

A few other organisations online gave me some ideas about where to start with my experiments and development, and a lot of input from my beloved and her family, some from my family, and a few friends, all gave me invaluable input and insights. (I know, for example, how far the average person is willing to go in handing over useable plastics and materials for recycling. Answer is "not a great deal, but far more if you get them involved." This has become important for my approach, because it dictates how much pre-processing has to be done.)

Basically, then, I'm a person that will 3D print small items on demand, print a whole lot more to learn how to apply various techniques mainly slanted towards recycling. And not just plastics (although they are the easiest of the waste stream materials to recycle and repurpose) but cardboard and paper, aluminium, and steel and tinplate. At this stage. There are quite a few ideas I can't work on all of them at the same time as I'm also organising all the other required stuff. (But check the sidebar about "Getting Involved: How You Can Help" if you think you'd like to.)

My purpose with this recycling operation isn't to make a fortune, but rather to develop equipment and techniques and so forth and, more importantly - a system - for others to follow, also a set of branding identifiers, and then hopefully very soon, a series of similar little community operated facilities will spring up that will take care of a significant portion of their local waste stream and keep it out of landfill.

The brand identity will be pretty much to be small, almost cottage industry, local operations that recycle re-use and repurpose a significant part of the local waste stream. I'm aiming for something that'll be not for profit (See *** next para.) but pay the wages of a large group of people locally thus taking them off the unemployment lists, give them a job that is easier and less struggle than many of today's high-risk high-pressure workplaces, and - as the general public begins to appreciate how important good stewardship of the planet actually is - will become quite prestigious jobs. 

(***Actually - EVERYTHING is on the table, but it needs YOU to start talking to me and others and we'll decide it from there.)

I myself am a disability pensioner and don't have a lot of disposable income to contribute but so far I've scrimped and saved and poured several hundred dollars of my quite limited income on parts and equipment and am currently using a corner of my front porch as my workshop for developing things.

On the plus side, I have quite a range of developments (plans for machines or partially-assembled development machines, small items made with plastics and metals to prove things work, etc) in that corner of the veranda and inside the house, and while I'm a bit limited as I said in my financial and ability capabilities it just shows that if I can do it so can anyone else. So as soon as you see those links in the sidebar please do get involved and help make a difference!

A few of those links will (sort of) explain what I'm on about, and when you decide to get involved, you'll be able to help decide exactly what sort of an operation it'll be. 

Hope to catch you again soon!