3D printing has hit the mainstream over the past few years relatively quickly. The plastic filament printers are turning up in university labs and school rooms, and you can buy one for use at home for about $100. Is it a fad or the future? And what about the plastic waste generated by all those printers? When you print something, you end up with little plastic tabs and ends that are trimmed off and discarded because they're too small to reuse. Failed iterations also create a lot of waste.