Mimicking Nature to Fight Climate Change

Reprinted from Take Part article by John R. Platt

John R. Platt recently wrote an article that does a great job of articulating the role that the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge plays in helping address climate change.  As the sponsor of the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge, the Ray C. Anderson Foundation is pleased to share this story.

Can nature teach us how to mitigate the effects of climate change, or even to reverse it?

That’s the idea behind an upcoming competition created by the Biomimicry Institute, a nonprofit that helps people and organizations create sustainable ideas inspired by nature. Sometimes that means looking at form—for example, the way water moves over a shark’s skin—while other times it involves looking at natural systems, such as how forests handle rainfall.

The competition is the latest iteration of the institute’s ongoing Biomimicry Global Design Challenge, which most recently asked teams to submit ideas for products composed of living elements. Earlier this month a team from the University of Oregon won $10,000 for creating a living filtration system that uses microorganisms to retain nutrients in the soil to reduce water and pesticide runoff from farming. Many of the previous winners of the challenge have also continued in a program organized by the institute to help entrepreneurs bring their products to market.

Read more.