Editorial Posted by Aki Soudunsaari on February 15, 2019
Nature is Smarter Than an Engineer
Read our co-founder's thoughts on innovative nature-based solutions.
I have a behavioral & health science background, where human biology is the foundation for everything.
I’m intrigued by #biomimicry, “the approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested strategies”.
Humans are smart, but without intending to, we have created sustainability & health problems for future generations. Fast urbanization and our disrespect to nature has led us as humankind to first ruin land, then water, and most recently, air.
We dumped everything to land until we noticed that’s not sustainable. We introduced natural processes how to decompose the waste in landfills.
We dumped everything to water until we noticed that’s not sustainable and we have reached nature’s carrying capacity limits. As one of the solutions, we mimicked nature and created wastewater facilities where water is cleansed using natural processes.
Recently we’ve noticed that we can’t dump everything to air, including traffic pollution and the chemical burden from daily chemicals such as perfumes & cleansing products.
Good news: we have found solutions & we will in the future. I believe the answers already exist - at the intersection of nature & technology.
What’s your favorite nature-based solution? Birds & trains? Termite nests & air ventilation systems in buildings? Velcro? Mosquitos & needles?