Designing from nature could solve the world's biggest challenges
Can a boat be designed to clean the water? How does a spider manufacture resilient fiber? The world needs products that don’t harm humans or the environment, and nature’s already done the research.
(Page 4 of 4)
The goals are as much about detergentmakers altering the chemistry of their soap to use smaller bottles as they are about discovering new processes.
Skip to next paragraph
YES! Magazine is a nonprofit, ad-free publication that covers social, political, economic, and environmental problems and the people who seek to solve them.
Recent posts
-
05.18.13
Steve Jobs widow: How is Laurene Powell Jobs spending her wealth? (+video) -
05.17.13
Actor, dressed as woman, feels Egypt's sexual harassment -
05.16.13
How mussels could help clean polluted waters -
05.15.13
Sharing good news helps break down the myth of our own powerlessness -
05.14.13
US Navy ship to sail the Pacific on a humanitarian mission
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
“A lot of products we need haven’t been invented yet,” Luther says. “You think about our lives, and they’re made of a bunch of molecules. Whether it’s going into a toy or a piece of toilet paper or the one that’s the new jet fuel, what we want to do is inspire a whole new generation of chemists to get the good molecules working for us. We want kids to say, ‘I can be the person who creates the molecule that makes the world better.’ ”
For Benyus, the next frontier is 3D printing, a mechanized version of nature’s more graceful, “as needed” style of manufacturing. She envisions a world where, instead of shipping countless goods thousands of miles, we would have a Kinko’s for pots and pans and cups – using natural polymers or even beetle shells.
“Our dream would be to have five vials of goop, then add structure to it to make it super strong or whatever you need it to be. At the end of its life you could put your product in a bath of enzymes to disassemble it, and then you'd be able to use it again,” she says. “Fewer materials, better recyclability. To me, this is really exciting.”
3D printing may also be where biomimicry and Cradle to Cradle finally intersect.
“What we’re trying to do with our polymer idea is what I think Cradle to Cradle is trying to accomplish as well,” says Benyus. “Where green chemistry, biomimicry, and Cradle to Cradle meet, we start to talk about rewriting the story of stuff.”
In McDonough’s view, both Cradle to Cradle and biomimicry take their cues from the natural world. But a shared philosophy may be their most important link.
“The question comes down to not just ‘What is our technique?’ but ‘What am I doing?’ ” the architect says. “Notwithstanding engineering wizardry, ‘Are we doing the right thing?’ must always be the first and ultimate question.”
Currently, he is working to design offices, factories, and schools that are photosynthetic and make energy—buildings with admittedly “magical” characteristics.
But thanks to Benyus, Braungart, and McDonough, such ideas are no longer in the realm of science fiction. From oil-repellent coating inspired by water bugs, to using prairies as a model to grow food sustainably, to observing how chimps cope with illness, the possibilities of learning from our planet’s unexplored reservoirs of intelligence are vast.
“What if there was a boat designed to clean the water? Or how about a phone that enhances your hearing?” asks Luther. “That’s the Cradle to Cradle way. You just change your thinking.”
• Sven Eberlein wrote this article for What Would Nature Do?, the Winter 2013 issue of YES! Magazine. Sven is a San Francisco-based freelance writer who attracts themes with a hopeful, earthy drift. When he’s not roaming his neighborhood in search of street food and random acts of creativity, he can be found musing on his blog, svenworld.com.
• Sign up to receive a weekly selection of practical and inspiring Change Agent articles by clicking here.
Previous
Become part of the Monitor community