Environmental Effects of 3D Printing Imagine a world where low-cost manufacturing is created at home with the push of a button. You can create your own custom designs without the need for manufacturing factories. As manufacturing becomes digital, the fundamentals of the economy will change, new technologies will be explored as we approach the third largest industrial revolution. As society evolves, the economy will change, allowing people to produce their own products from home. The use of three-dimensional devices, “3D printers”, with the help of open software will allow people to produce printed items. In the new era, people will be able to print everything from batteries, cell phones, auto parts, medical implants and guns in what many call additive manufacturing. This is a good thing, as society needs a better green strategy for 3D printing that helps promote recyclability. As costs for 3D printing technology decrease and ideally become mainstream, in the near future, everyone could purchase and have their own three-dimensional factory in their home. As of now, home 3D printers can be purchased through major electronics stores like Newegg and Wal-Mart's online website. The price for these devices can range from five hundred dollars and up into the thousands. The prices of many 3D printers are dictated by the functionality and capabilities of the device, such as the printing material being identical to plastic, metal or steel, also the print quality, speed, reliability and ease of use , everything formulates the base price of these machines. One of the best value for your buck printers is the affordable third generation Solidoodle. This printer prints a large volume of plastic, 8x8x8 in size, with heated print... in the center of the paper... the same dilemma that music artists and software industries have faced in years past. Many argue that it is not actually a theft, because the person never physically took the object, others believe that it is not the case of the physical theft of the object but rather the theft of intellectual property. One solution could be to develop application stores, so that software companies sell files effortlessly. 3D printer designers can sell their invention in the same way, specializing in selling to the necessary interests without assistants in mass production companies. It will help protect many working 3D printer designs through patents, as a necessary hurdle to prevent others from experiencing intellectual property theft. Instead of trying to regulate these printers, we should promote the capability of digital manufacturing and the price that open source manufacturing brings.