GREEN LIVING
The Art of Learning from Nature Imitating Life’s Genius with Biomimicry
C
laire Janisch (Director of BiomimicrySA, CEO of Learn Biomimicry, and a Certified Biomimicry Professional) grew up with a deep love of nature as a child. When she chose a career path, she wanted to make an active difference in changing humanity’s devastating environmental footprint. Diving straight into the belly of the beast of one of the biggest polluters in the industry, she decided to obtain her MSc Chem-Engineering in Industrial Ecology. Janisch was especially interested in sustainable development, and remembers thinking how surreal it is that the chemical manufacturing industry refines oil and produces hazardous materials and toxins that can’t be reintegrated into nature. In the natural world, waste like peels and dead leaves are decomposed before being reintegrated into the cycle of life, but we’ve been doing the exact opposite and are paying the price for ignoring the genius of the natural world. Ten years ago, Janisch embarked on an intensive programme to become a Certified Biomimicry Professional. The course, which was in its infancy at the time, combined biology, engineering, design and business, and explored the myriad ways these fields can inform each other. It was during this time that Janisch visited six vastly different ecosystems around the world. From the wet and hot climate of the Amazon Rain Forest to the cold, arid Arizona desert, she was learning how to draw inspiration from nature to answer and speak to contemporary challenges. What is biomimicry? Biomimicry is essentially innovation that’s inspired by nature. Bio (life) + mimicry (to mimic/imitate) = to mimic life
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is the practice of “Biomimicry learning from and emulating
nature’s genius to create products, processes and systems that are sustainable and resilient - even regenerative.
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According to Janisch, biomimicry can be thought of as a design process, a branch of science, a problem-solving method, a sustainability ethos, a movement, a stance toward nature, and a new way of viewing and valuing biodiversity. It is as broad as the diversity of life itself, and is grounded in its pursuit to imitate nature to find solutions to engineering, design and other challenges we face today. The field isn’t exactly novel; biomimicry was practised by many native cultures. For example, the Inuit used to mimic the way that polar bears built their dens by modelling their igloos after the structures, while other isolated cultures looked to animals to know which plants were safe to eat or use for medicine. Even Leonardo da Vinci used it to solve many of his engineering challenges. Yet slowly over time we’ve distanced ourselves so much from the natural world that we started to forget that there is wisdom to glean from it in the first place. That’s why Janisch asserts that it’s only fitting that we think of biomimicry as the re-emergence of a formal discipline based on ancient cultures. We’re surrounded by the answers. We simply need to turn away from the industrial and towards the natural. How has it been used? If you look at the materials that exist in the natural world – whether tough, light-weight, strong or flexible – they’re all made at ambient temperature. Spiderwebs are spun by cold-blooded spiders; mussel shells produce a non-
toxic glue that can stick under cold water despite being made at sea-water temperature; while some sea shells are tougher than human-made ceramics. If we can learn how to move away from toxic processes that produce materials under high pressures and extreme temperatures, we’re not only going to solve a chemical and recycling problem, but also an energy consumption problem. For example, by understanding how spiders spin their webs one protein at a time and then exploring the ways we can connect those proteins in a similar way, scientists have been able to invent a new super-strength, light-weight fibre that could replace other more toxic materials. Similarly, by mimicking the natural glue of mussels, engineers have been able to invent a biodegradable glue that can be used to stick plywood together. And other companies have been able to create a type of mushroom that helps with treating contaminants to clean up polluted land. From architects designing cities to function like carbon-absorbing forests to inventing plastic inspired by the exoskeleton of insects, and drawing inspiration from the feet of geckos to invent machine suctions, there is no limit to the myriad ways biomimicry can be applied and adapted to make a sustainable impact on the world. What is the regenerative impact of biomimicry? Biomimicry goes beyond just being sustainable to being regenerative. For example, in the agricultural sector, it can help with repairing and rebuilding an entire region’s soil health, air quality and water systems, rather than just eliminating one specific problem. When we look at our water and energy systems, organisations and economies, it’s crucial to reconsider how we can
