Sustainability

PLA+ is derived from renewable plant starch — primarily corn. It's what's called a bioplastic: made from biological feedstock rather than petroleum. That matters, but it's not the whole story.

We use PLA+ specifically (not standard PLA) because it has better mechanical properties for this application. Standard PLA warps in direct summer sun and can get brittle over time. PLA+ holds its shape, stays rigid at temperatures up to 60 °C, and doesn't get chalky or crack after a year of misting.

PLA+ is home-compostable under the right conditions — you need the right moisture and microbial activity, which most home compost bins don't have. Industrial composting works reliably. We won't tell you it disappears in a garden bin, because it won't. What we will say: it doesn't leach, it's inert in soil, and it's far better than ABS or PETG for this use case.

We don't keep inventory. Every pole is printed when you order it. This is a deliberate choice: it means longer lead times than a warehouse operation, and it means we can't offer same-day dispatch.

What it also means: zero unsold stock going to landfill, no overproduction, no discount cycle to move surplus, and no carbon footprint from storing things that may never sell.

The printer runs when there's demand. When there isn't, it doesn't. That's about as close to zero-waste production as you can get with physical goods.

We make things in Freiburg and sell mostly in Germany and Europe. That's a short supply chain by design. No transoceanic freight, no consolidation warehouses, no multi-leg logistics to shave a euro off the unit cost.

Our filament supplier is based in Europe. Orders ship via DHL, which is far from perfect but is the best available option for tracked, reliable domestic and EU delivery.

Being local also means accountability. If something is wrong, it gets fixed by the people who made it — not a returns centre three countries away.

Recycled cardboard boxes, kraft paper padding. No bubble wrap, no polystyrene, no plastic film. Nothing in the box that can't go in your household paper recycling.

The insert card is printed on uncoated recycled paper. No plastic pockets, no zip bags, no synthetic tissue paper to make it feel premium. If it can't do the job without plastic, we redesign the job.

We right-size the box to the order. No half-empty cartons padded out with filler. This matters more than it sounds — shipping air is one of the more quietly wasteful things in ecommerce logistics.