Green printer uses coffee dregs as ink

The paperless office is a great notion, but in reality there are still many scenarios where the printer needs to be switched on and fed with environmentally unfriendly consumables - paper and ink. Recycling and re-using paper for print jobs has become well entrenched, but the expensive and often frustrating process of replenishing the ink remains an issue for many of us. Which brings us to one of the cleverest recycling ideas to emerge from this year's Greener Gadgets competition - the RITI printer. This design concept by Jeon Hwan Ju takes your coffee or tea dregs, plus a little elbow grease, and turns them into an eco-friendly alternative to conventional ink.

To use the RITI you place the coffee or tea dregs into the ink cartridge with some water, insert a piece of paper (100% recycled we hope) and move the cartridge backwards and forwards in the slot while drawing on the paper. Using your own kinetic energy to power the process also means no electricity is needed, and you have all that coffee induced energy to burn anyway. Once complete you empty the cartridge, meaning your coffee leftovers can continue their journey to the compost bin.

It might not be a the solution for full color print jobs, but its an ingenious recycling idea, and one we'd love to see make it to market... plus your print outs would carry a faint aroma of your favorite blend!

Voting to decide the top 10 entries into the Greener Gadgets Competition is open until 20th February.