A Better World By Design

While in class the other day one of the concepts that really spoke to me was asknature.com. We have talked extensively about how our society is built on the idea of obsolescence. The things that we use get thrown out and end up in a landfill. As pointed out in the Story of Stuff unlike in nature where the ecology is circular so that what is waste to one organism is fuel for another our ecology of stuff is one way. If overall we can change the way we use our resources to be more circular we will be able to better our environment.

Asknature.com searches nature for solutions to our problems. AS plants use photosynthesis to create energy we can take a look at the mechanisms that allow them to do so in order to better harness and use energy efficiently. Looking at plants as models, dye sensitive photo cells are able to be incorporated into flexible materials and architectural elements. Traditional silicone based solar cells, although they have a higher output of energy, their fabrication process gives off more harmful gasses. The dye sensitive solar cells cost less to produce, and can collect energy in a wider range of temperature and light conditions.

Also you can find how to create a never fading color like the morpho butterfly whose wing structure creates vibrant blue appearance due to its structure. This has been applied to Morphotex fabrics in which the color differences are created through the varying thickness and structure of the fibers. Many other examples of how nature does it can be found at asknature.com. This site is such a great resource to anyone looking to better change how we go about achieving things. It makes sense to look at how thing occur naturally. If we mimic nature’s ways we get closer to creating a more environmental friendly world.