Sustainability is a challenging concept, but it’s something that Mother Nature mastered eons ago. Everyday, complex ecosystems do their work, requiring no energy and no input other than the rays of the sun. As we seek sustainable solutions for our own society, we need look no further than outside our windows to find an ideal and accessible model.

This is the message of biomimicry, a new school of thought that reinstates nature as the ultimate teacher. Bios, the Greek term for life and mimesis, meaning to imitate, combine to form biomimicry: the concept of drawing creative inspiration from nature to develop solutions to human problems.

“The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with,” explains Janine Benyus, author of the book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. “Animals, plants and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate and, most important, what lasts here on Earth.”

Biomimicry isn’t a completely new concept—it’s simple common sense. Many indigenous cultures have imitated nature for years in their solutions to meet everyday needs. Alaskan hunters, for instance, hunt seals in the same way that polar bears do. Amazon tribes grow their food in diverse multi-story gardens that mimic the tropical forest.

However, biomimicry extends far beyond primitive living applications to provide inspiration for innovative technology. Nature provides time-tested models for many of the major struggles faced by society, such as energy production, resource recycling and food production, to name a few.  By studying nature, humans can tap into 3.8 billion years of planetary research and development.     

Biomimicry helps to direct strategies for efficient, environmentally-friendly products, energy systems and even medical treatments. Solar cells that mimic leaf structure and medicines patterned after plant defense systems are just a few of the possibilities that are becoming reality.

Essentially, biomimicry elevates our role from protectors of the planet to devout students of nature. “Instead of seeing nature as a source of raw materials, we would see nature as a source of ideas, as a mentor,” explains Benyus.

In the path towards a more sustainable society, working in concert with nature may prove to be our most fruitful partnership yet.

For more information:
www.biomimicry.org