Such ideas are commonly ac- cepted in many cultures. The Japanese believe in the restorative power of shinrin-yoku, which could be trans- lated as “forest medicine” or “forest bathing”. Indigenous peoples like the Brazilian tribe led by Shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, fighting to pre- serve their land and way of life in the Amazon, profess to be at one with the innate riches of sustainable rainforests (SurvivalInternational.org/parks).


Innovative Nature


Scientists, inventors and other innova- tors are increasingly inspired by nature. Biomimicry, part social movement and part burgeoning industry, looks to how Earth’s natural systems work and solve problems. University of Utah research- ers, inspired by the durable homes built by sandcastle worms, are creating a synthetic glue that one day could help repair fractured bones. Architectural components manufacturer Panelite makes energy-efficient insulated glass by mimicking the hexagonal structure that bees use in honeycombs. (Find other precedents at Tinyurl.com/ BiomimicryCaseExamples). The inspiration for biomimicry comes from many places, says Dayna Baumeister, Ph.D. co-founder of Bio- mimicry 3.8, a Missoula, Montana, company working with other companies and universities to propel biomimicry into the mainstream.


“People are recognizing that they’ve been disconnected to the natu- ral world,” she says. “We also realize that [as a species] we are in trouble. We don’t have all the answers, but we can look to other species for inspira-


Scientific studies show that a regular dose


of nature has far-reaching health benefits. More doctors now write


“nature” prescriptions for their patients.


tion” for clearing pollutants from our bodies and environments.


Plants and fungi are now com- monly used to clean up old industrial sites that resemble nature’s way of removing pollutants from water and soil. A University of California, Berkeley, meta-study confirms that farmers cur- rently using organic farming methods and solar power achieve roughly the same crop yields as conventional techniques with far less dependence on fossil fuels, reducing greenhouse gases and petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer pollution.


Cyclical Nature


These breakthrough technologies emu- late the way nature uses the building blocks of life in an endless cycle of birth, reproduction, decay and rebirth. It’s part of a broad rethinking of the principles behind sustainability— building, manufacturing and living in greater harmony with natural systems, perhaps eventually eliminating land- fills, air and water pollution, and toxic site cleanups. “A toxin is a material in the wrong


place,” says architect William Mc- Donough, of Charlottesville, Virginia.


The only individual recipient of the Presidential Award for Sustainable De- velopment, he is co-author of Cradle- to-Cradle, a groundbreaking book that calls for re-envisioning even the nastiest waste, and The Upcycle: Beyond Sus- tainability—Designing for Abundance. McDonough imagines a world where waste becomes raw material for new buildings, furniture and other goods— akin to how a forest reuses every de- ceased tree and animal to nourish the ecosystem and spawn new life. With 80 percent of U.S. residents currently living in urban areas, archi- tects, builders and municipal planners are likewise pivoting toward nature, prompted by the scientific evidence of the many ways that human health and general well-being rely upon it. While this contact is preferably the kind of “stopping by woods” that inspired New England poet Robert Frost, even a walk in a city park will work.


“Urban nature, when provided as parks and walkways and incorporated into building design, provides calm- ing and inspiring environments and encourages learning, inquisitiveness and alertness,” reports the University of Washington’s College of the Environ- ment, in Green Cities: Good Health. The American Planning Associa- tion stresses the importance of inte- grating green space into urban neigh- borhoods. Not only does so-called “metro nature” improve air and water quality and reduce urban heat island effects, urban wilds such as Pittsburgh’s Nine Mile Run and Charlotte, North Carolina’s Little Sugar Creek Green- way also restore natural connections in densely populated city centers.


natural awakenings


April 2015


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