To tackle the problem of expensive ink cartridges that are often hard to replace, Korean designer Jeon Hwan Ju came up with a rather innovative approach: use coffee ground or tea dregs as ink.

As part of the Core77 Greener Gadgets competion, he created the RITI printer. While still a concept, the printer contains an ink case at the top where one adds their used grounds. This avoids the need for costly, environment-damaging ink. To make the device even greener, it does not run on electricity, but instead the user must move the ink case back and forth to print. This, along with the lack of an ink cartridge, reduces the number of mechanical parts in the printer, making it more reliable.

RITI is just a concept, and there’s no guarantee that it will ever be produced. Unless you’re Starbucks, the only people who could ever use it would be casual users. But there are many people who only print every so often who could use something like this. I wouldn’t want to print a term paper or ebook on one of these things, but it would be great for a grandmother who wanted to print an email after drinking her morning coffee. Hey, maybe Ju can get Folgers or Maxwell House to sponsor him in producing his printer.

[Via Core77]