by Rebecca Carlson | Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

Meet alumni from the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge and see how their careers have evolved over the past few years.

Biomimicry has long promised opportunities for hope, because the solutions for our challenges are all around us. In this New Year, many of us have also been anticipating a promise of creating a new ‘normal’, long awaiting the much-needed hugs from loved ones, return to work, travel, health, gatherings with friends and family, and a vaccine, just to name a few. …

by Faye Berry| Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

When we walk outside and look down at the ground, we often do not think anything of the soil we stand on. We see it just as a brown, red, or gray home to grass and plants. However, soil is much more than that. During November’s Biomimicry Fireside Chat, special guest Don Smith, a Healthy Soil Advocate from Kiss the Ground, emphasized that “the health of our soil creates our entire environment… everything goes back to the soil.” There is hope and inspiration to be had in working…

by Sophia Stiles | Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

“The thing that really surprised me was that it [Earth] projected an air of fragility. And why, I don’t know. I don’t know to this day. I had a feeling it’s tiny, it’s shiny, it’s beautiful, it’s home, and it’s fragile.”
–Michael Collins, Apollo 11

Introduction

by Faye Berry| Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

As November rolls on and fall descends in full in North America, nature is hardly beginning to tuck in for the long slumber of winter. In the Eastern United States, lands are battered with hurricanes, and in the West, wildfires rage on. The loss of life from these disasters is heartbreaking, and the impact on people’s lives can be truly gut wrenching. That devastation deserves our immediate attention. But, for the ecosystems affected by these disturbances, a different story can be seen.

These ecosystems are resilient. Their resilience…

by Sam Nattress| Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

Innovators have always drawn inspiration from nature. When Da Vinci saw twirling maple tree seeds, he sketched the earliest design of a helicopter, 450 years before the first one took flight. Now the process of turning nature into technology has a name: biomimicry. Copying nature has given us painless needles modeled on mosquitos, aerodynamic trains that copy kingfishers, and butterfly inspired paint without pigments.

More and more innovators are beginning to grasp how nature inspires design and guides entrepreneurship. Biomimicry has spawned hundreds of startups, especially sustainability focused…

by Christa Avampato| Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

In the United States, our vote is our voice. Our democracy doesn’t work unless we all participate. The roots of the word ‘democracy’ come from two Greek words: ‘demos’ meaning ‘whole citizen living within a city-state’ and ‘kratos’ meaning power. Our style of government’s very name says it all: the people have the power, and we exercise that power with our vote.

We Vote For All

The 2019–2020 Congressional term was a busy one for the environment. 350 bills were introduced that represent a wide variety of environmental…

by Sophia Stiles | Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke

When I first heard this quote, it was in the context of 18th century European history and the French Revolution. I was surprised to discover how applicable that same idea is today! Read on and I’ll explain what I mean.

In my first blog in Asking Nature back in July, I shared the journey I took with 30 Days of Reconnection. In September, I shared How I Found…

by Christa Avampato | Originally published on Asking Nature by the Biomimicry Institute

A 3 year-old Miyawaki forest in Belgium. Image courtesy of Urban Forests.

Waste not, want not. That’s a motto that nature stands by. What’s waste from one part of nature serves as food for another, and so it goes in a never-ending cycle that supports, sustains, and diversifies life.

Unlike nature, most areas of our human-made economy and supply chain are linear: we begin with raw materials and then end in waste. Occasionally, we will start with post-consumer products and end in some form of recycling or…