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Biomimicry is innovation
inspired by nature,
looking to nature as a
teacher. Life is
intimately
interconnected and
interdependent. It has
taken me awhile, but I
am beginning to
appreciate the meaning
of that statement. As
historian J. R. MacNeill
has pointed out, the
best survival strategy
for long-term biological
success is to be very
adaptable, pursue
diverse sources of
subsistence, and
optimize resilience.
When you look at our
food web, it makes no
waste; it is powered by
a solar economy that
neither mines the past
nor mortgages the
future. There is a
relatively new group of
people that are studying
nature: trying to mimic
nature in order to heal
nature and serve human
needs harmlessly.
Biological organisms (life)
have learned to do some
amazing things – fly,
circumnavigate the
globe, live at the top
of mountains and bottom
of the ocean, lasso
solar energy, light up
the night and make
miracle materials like
skin, horns, hair and
brains. Organisms have
done everything we
humans want to do but
without guzzling fossil
fuels, polluting the
planet or mortgaging
their future. Life is
very adaptable and an
expert at survival.
Think of the
hummingbird. It flies up
to 35 miles per hour,
bursts across 600 miles
of open water without
stopping on a whopping
2.1 grams of fuel
(nectar). In the process
of fueling up, it
manages to pollinate its
energy source. When it
dies, its body
decays and nurtures the
roots of flowers,
mushrooms, grasses,
trees and shrubs. In the
process of meeting their
needs, organisms manage
to fertilize the soil,
clean the air, clean the
water and mix the right
cocktail of atmospheric
gases that life needs to
live.
Life has learned to create
conditions conducive to
life. We can learn a lot
from it. We need to step
outside and ask the
local geniuses that
surround us. A key
question is: what would
nature do here? We tend
to solve our problems by
tweaking our
conventional solutions.
When we want to clean a
surface, we ask
questions like: “what is
the least toxic
detergent to use or how
can I reduce the energy
involved in
sandblasting? A better
question might be: how
does nature stay clean?
Other organisms do not
use detergent or
sandblasters at all but
many depend on staying
clean for their
survival. A leaf has to
stay dirt-free so it can
breathe and gather
sunlight.
Botanists in Germany
looked to the lotus
plant because it rises
from muddy swamps yet
remains dry and
pristine. Under a
microscope, they saw
that instead of being
smooth, for easy
cleaning, the leaf
surface is incredibly
mountainous. Dirt
particles teeter on the
peaks instead of
adhering strongly, and
raindrops ball up
instead of spreading
out. As the rain drop
rolls off the leaf, it
lifts the loose dirt
particle.
Advertisement for
Lotusan paint in the
Paint Pro Journal: “Sto
Corp. has duplicated
that “lotus effect” in
Lotusan, its self-
cleaning silicone
exterior paint . Lotusan
was introduced to Europe
in 1999, and now, it’s
being sold in North
America for the first
time. Lotusan’s extreme
resistance to water is a
product of Sto
technology. The coating,
after it is applied,
mimics the
microstructure of the
surface of a lotus leaf.
Tiny peaks and valleys
on the surface minimize
the contact area for
water and dirt. As a
result, the coating is
highly resistant to
dirt, mold and mildew,
and it offers excellent
resistance to weather,
chalk and UV rays.”
The question then becomes
not which detergent to
use but how to keep
things from getting
dirty in the first
place. A German company
makes a building facade
paint called Lotusan
based on the lotus
effect.The dried paint
has the structure of the
lotus leaf and rainwater
cleans the building. (A
quote about the company
is listed below.) The
deep design principle is
that life surfs for
free. Plants use the
kinetic or motion energy
in falling rain to deep
themselves clean. It is
a very simple concept.
Instead of seeing nature
as a warehouse that we
can shop from, you begin
to see her as a teacher.
Instead of valuing what
you can extract from her
you value what you can
learn from her. Next
time you go out in your
garden. Ask: How does
nature teach? How does
nature learn? How does
nature heal? How does
nature communicate? Your
garden may help you
discover an answer to
one of life’s
challenges. |
