A Sustainable World Already Exists.

As the infants of this planet we are the absolute beginners, the apprentices on Earth, with Nature as our elder; our mentor! Biologist Janine Benyus explains Biomimicry and how well we would do to mimic life’s genius. Rather than extract and harvest from the natural world, she urges us to look to it for solutions. Life has been living here for the past 3.8 billion years, mastering the art of living and supporting the conditions for ongoing life. It seems the solutions we seek are already around us; already tried and tested. In that sense, the future is already here — we just need to see it!

Janine Benyus shows us where to look!

Life is our teacher. Life looks locally. Life builds on diversity. Life up-cycles EVERYTHING. Life finds its limits, takes its opportunities. Life thrives on cooperation. Life doesn’t foul its nest but builds the next.

Biomimicry is taking careful note of what technologists and chemists of the natural world are already doing. Nature designs sustainability. Nature’s engineering is inspiring elegant design in our own innovations. We are natives of Nature, after all.

Take the bright eye-catching hues of the peacock. They come to being through structure and shape — not through a concoction of chemicals! They are apparently brown! Feather layering and shape bend and play with the light to form its dazzling array of colours! Imagine building colour into our products through shape — designing-out the need for chemicals.

Fibre manufacturers are mimicking the spider for durability. Paint producers consider the surface of the leaf to keep dirt from sticking. Life keeps clean, with a little help from its own resources.

It becomes apparent that life, in all its admirable complexity, relies on simplicity. Living by the mantra of “less is more”, life takes from few, gives generously and works on low: low pressure, low temperatures and low toxicity.