Ever since we started Robo in 2012, it has been a mission of ours to bring the best quality 3D printers to the world and let people share in building their ideas and passions, tell their 3D printing story, and create something special with just the click of a button. Albeit our original thoughts about who would use these products, we were awestruck at some of the things people utilize our machines for — developing prosthetics, teaching the visually impaired, creating amazing product ideas, prototyping world changing bike braking systems, and bettering fire departments with custom made tools and accessories, as well as plenty more. This is what we started Robo for. We believe this community of users will take the world to the next level and build the next great technology.

We have also seen 3D printers in the hands of students in education and how quickly utilizing our machines have shaped a new mindset of "3D thinking" - being able to solve problems with design and 3D printing. That is something that is completely unique to this industry - we have a tool that can create a drastic empowering mind shift. To be able to have the opportunity to watch students discover 3D printing and design their first 3D printable object has been the most rewarding thing to date.  

You see, we have a community of people willing to help. Most of the content in this industry is open source and free to download with the likes of Thingiverse, MyMiniFactory, and more — which means amazing designers, inventors, engineers, and everyday talented modelers have taken their time to create incredible, unique, complicated files that solve problems or inspire others and they share them online for all of 3D printer owners to download and make. It's pretty amazing and we are very grateful for the free sharing that goes on.

I have never seen an industry so giving. I have never seen an industry so willing to dedicate their own time, energy, and money into helping to see it succeed. Going to the Midwest RepRap festival was something that was so interesting to me — it was the most passionate group of people for an industry that I had ever seen. We are 3D printing. We have access to a tool that enables someone to MAKE. Let's continue to make and better this planet.

One of the most inspirational examples of making and bettering the planet that I have encountered are the people participating in printing prosthetics for the e-NABLE foundation. Thousands of volunteers around the world are making a difference in people's lives by printing affordable 3D printed prosthetics for those in need. If you didn't already know, now you know why this industry is a GEM. And people aren't doing this to make money — they are doing it because they realize they have a tool that can help others, and they are doing their part to make a difference. That is the movement we desire with this Earth Day contest.

Image courtest of the e-NABLE foundation

The truth of the matter is, we have hundreds of thousands of 3D printers around the world. This means we have hundreds of thousands of people around the world who can print something for themselves, for their friends and family, for one another, or for this planet. This is powerful. We can create a movement. We can unite together for the betterment of this world and do our part together.

Our contest is simple: to come up with an idea of something we could make and design that could help better this planet if we all united together and 3D printed something. It could be an actual object that people are printing to take a stand for the planet, it could be something functional that each person prints, or it could be something that tons of people print pieces for and we build something BIG. This is our chance to unite the 3D printing community in something that is passion-driven and good for the world.

We are here to help do our part to save this earth and we welcome EVERYONE to participate in our Earth Day Contest - regardless if you own a 3D printer or not. You're in luck if you don't own a 3D printer because the prize below should equip you with everything you need :). The contest is simple to enter — see details below. The selected winner will have the chance to work with Robo to implement the design and bring it to life. The possibilities are endless!

All you have to do is ideate at this stage:

1. Come up with a great idea — it must be a product that the 3D printing community could print and take part in bettering the planet. It could be a single object that everyone could each print or it could be pieces that people volunteer to print to make something BIGGER. Either way, let your ideas flow.

2. Post it in the comments section below on this blog, and/or post your ideas on our Facebook or Instagram post.

3. We will pick a winner and will collaborate with them to bring their Earth Day product idea to life. This is a chance for all of us to make a difference together.

4. Once we complete the design, we will share it with the industry and do our part to make sure that anyone with a 3D printer is participating.

We want people to really think long and hard to come up with some great ideas that we can actually BRING TO LIFE and share with the entire 3D printing community. Therefore, we will be giving away a brand new Robo C2 3D printer to the winner chosen in this contest. That winner will be responsible for working with us to bring this idea to life so we can share it with everyone. The 3D printer will help them with the actual development of the Earth Day product and will allow them to showcase their final end product to the world. Then, they can use the 3D printer that they won to make more things to impact the world.

To the community of 3D printing users, let's get after it. Let's come up with some great ideas and initiatives. This is a contest for all of us.