The word Bio Mimicry is popping up more and more often. What does it really mean anyway? Biomimicry is based on the principal that nature is a pretty perfect system and that by imitating nature more, we can enrich our lives while finding answers to our problems. These answers are likely to have smaller impacts on our environment than man made ones. Besides, nature has had plenty of time to work out solutions to these kinds of problems. Of course,this is a very simplified definition. There are whole books published on the subject, a Biomimicry Institute, and a host of companies using vast research departments to study and mimic nature.
If this sort of thing fascinates you, as it does me, then you should check out this post on the brainz.org website. Some of the products that researchers are working on are absolutely fascinating. How about mimicking a lizards feet and the way it walks on walls? Wonder how Velcro mimics nature? How about self healing plastics or a car designed to look like a fish? This article is a great read and I highly recommend it.
Now that I have your interest…
I was given a copy of the Nine Laws of Nature by Beau Daane, the local waste guru who is now at Case Western’s Fowler Center for Sustainable Value. It was written by Janie Benyus, a science writer and biomimicry advocate. I found it so interesting that I thought I would share:
Nine Laws of Nature
Nature runs on sunlight.
Nature uses only the energy it needs.
Nature fits form to function.
Nature recycles everything.
Nature rewards cooperation.
Nature banks on diversity.
Nature demands local expertise.
Nature curbs excess from within.
Nature taps the power of limits.
Imagine what a different world we would live in, if we followed these principals in our daily life…
