H2O: Ideas & Action for Canada's Water

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a presentation in Toronto at the ROM( Royal Ontario Museum) put on by the CEGN,Canadian Environmental Grantmakers Network. The speaker, Janine Benyus, is a natural sciences writer, who has been studying and promoting biomimicry for the last 20 years.

Rough Beach Trail

The basic idea is that we can learn so much from how things are done in the natural world, for example how sea shells are formed and why they don’t grow too big. It’s a principle that some engineers are researching to figure out how to apply it to the build up of scaling inside water pipes. Wouldn’t it be terrific to be able to use a natural process rather than toxic chemicals to keep our water pipes clear?

The Biomimicry Institute that Janine Benyus started, promotes learning from and then emulating natural forms, processes and ecosystems to create more sustainable and healthier human technologies. In her presentation she shared a multitude of examples that are both amazing and inspiring.

I’m definitely going to learn more about this work and how we can apply it to our water quality and quantity challenges. If you already know about some examples of biomimicry and its application to water concerns, please pass them on .