[chubbnix]

Given the lifespan of plastic products I don’t think it’s so bad that people let their printers sit unused for extended periods of time. If you don’t have a useful/desired object to print I would rather they not make a plastic object that will last hundreds of years and cannot be currently recycled except by doing it yourself. I would be concerned that achievement hunters would in fact be motivated by your idea and will be printing benchies or other useless objects they don’t actually want to keep the streak up. Maybe instead you could make a handy way for the users to list their print wishlist so they could keep it running with stuff they need/want instead of the ritual.

[grepLeigh]

Thanks for the comment. I hadn't considered that people might print junk just to get an achievement, but that does seem like an obvious misaligned incentive now.

Maybe it'd be better to collect models that solve a specific problem, like "kitchen drawer organizer set" or "cable management kit." I want the game-ification to help provide activation energy needed to do something creative and get into the habit of using the 3D printer to solve household problems. This has certainly helped my house buy less plastic crap shipped from overseas. For example, I need a new dog poop bag dispenser for my curb - instead of buying one, I'm going to 3D print one. =)

If I do launch something like this, I'll make sure the naming is "Make Something Useful" or "Make Something Functional."

[makapuf]

I print PLA and I don't think those are very durable. Sure, ABS is. That's why I think for the kind of widgets were printing, i think it's best to use flimsy PLA.

[sbaiddn]

PLA is biodegradable

[Filligree]

Ish. Kinda. It's biodegradable under the exact right conditions, but not in your compost. I'm not sure what happens to it as microplastics.