however we try, a printer is never going to be eco-friendly. come on, folks, it prints and that means it is killing trees one way or another (not unless you are talking about papers made from Elephants’ dung). the least any printer maker can do is, to make the printer itself as eco-friendly as possible like this conceptual Samsung Origami Printer. as you can see, the entire chassis of the printer is made out of cardboard and not just any cardboard – we are talking about 100% recycled cardboard. though the internal still remains the usual plastic/metal construction typical of today’s printer. we have no idea how long a chassis made out of corrugated cardboard would last, but what do we care? cos’ it is unlikely that we will be seeing this on the retail shelves anyway.
on the similar news, Samsung also showcased another couple of printers which are more likely to be available in the near future. though the duo, simply known as Clip and Mate, are not made of cardboard, they are said to be as eco-friendly (presumably, using ‘eco-friendly’ plastic or something of sort). the Clip is a screw-less printer that folds up from a piece of plastic to form the printer chassis, and the Mate is an eco-friendly-meet-vanity printer, featuring swappable exterior panels for the customized look. just how these more “down-to-earth” printers could be more eco-friendly is beyond us, or at least, we didn’t find any further readings to suggest that virtue other than what our source have reported. together, the trio of printers have won a total of nine awards, including three Gold awards at the 2013 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). witness how the three printers are assembled in the video below.