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WASTE IS JUST A NAME


Is there a alternative to bio-resins?

Claire S. - 11/02/2022
 Hi all, I've been wanting to try out resin crafting for a while now as was thinking to create my own miniatures and dice for d&d mainly but I'm wondering what alternatives there are in terms of epoxy resin etc that are more environmentally friendly as I'm not that big on the thought of using so much plastic especially if it's toxic.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm a total noob in the subject hehe. Also I live in Cyprus so don't think there are many local options, so if you know a good place online to buy molds and resin materials, please recommend! 😸

Thanks!
Ben R. S. - 11/02/2022

Look into the brand Ecopoxy it is 100% plant based resin.
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Bea K. - 11/02/2022
Plant-based doesn’t mean non-toxic or sustainable. I looked into that one myself and didn’t find anything good :/ it’s still considered “very harmful to aquatic life,” & of course it’s still a non-renewable resource. They claim it’s “compostable,” but if it can still leach harmful chemicals into the groundwater, I don’t quite see the point.
Claus S. - 12/02/2022
There's no decent answer to this question.

First off, what exactly about resin do you think is unfriendly? I'm not saying it is or isn't friendly, but that's a very vague term and can mean a lot of things. Generally, no you shouldn't be pouring resin down the sink, but it's not nuclear waste either. If you handle it properly, I'm not sure there's a lot of problems, but you may be thinking of some specific risk. Without knowing what it is, it's impossible to say. "Resin" means a LOT of things and covers a huge range of products. They are not all the same, and therefore have different hazards and risks (or don't, as the case may be.) "Toxic" - also a vague term. Do not eat the resin, to be sure. But I doubt that's what you were considering.

Your intended uses - "miniatures and dice": Dice, no problem. Do it up. Minis... casting minis in resin via molds is probably not going to work. They tend to have a ton of detail, and there's little point to making a mold when you only want one of something. If you want miniatures, you would be far better off I think looking at the UV resin printers. There are several low priced, hobby friendly models that do a FANTASTIC level of detail and are perfect for this kind of thing (Elegoo Mars, Anycubic Photon, etc). And you can print off what you need. Now I will say that the resin used in those printers is pretty nasty stuff, as UV-cured resins tend to be. And as far as I have heard, there is no truly eco-friendly version - just the nature of the beast.
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Claire S. - 15/02/2022 Sorry for my vagueness! 😅 As I said, I'm a total noob at all this and have no idea where to start, all I know is that I've seen a lot of cool stuff people make that I'd love to try and I just want to pick up a new craft. But thank you for your reply, it gave some food for thought!