Janine Benyus quotes

Biomimicry is basically taking a design challenge and then finding an ecosystem that's already solved that challenge, and literally trying to emulate what you learn. (Janine Benyus)
Trees and bones are constantly reforming themselves along lines of stress. This algorithm has been put into a software program that's now being used to make bridges lightweight, to make building beams lightweight. View quote
Janine Benyus
Organisms don't think of CO2 as a poison. Plants and organisms that make shells, coral, think of it as a building block. View quote
Janine Benyus
There are three types of biomimicry - one is copying form and shape, another is copying a process, like photosynthesis in a leaf, and the third is mimicking at an ecosystem's level, like building a nature-inspired city. View quote
Janine Benyus
Water is at the center of every chemical reaction, and therefore should be the earth's most precious gift. View quote
Janine Benyus
The truth is, natural organisms have managed to do everything we want to do without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet or mortgaging the future. View quote
Janine Benyus
Life creates conditions conducive to life. View quote
Janine Benyus
Life solves its problems with well-adapted designs, life-friendly chemistry and smart material and energy use. View quote
Janine Benyus
Biologically inspired materials could revolutionize materials science. People looking at spider silk and abalone shells are looking for new ways to make materials better, cheaper, and with less toxic byproducts. View quote
Janine Benyus
There are literally as many ideas as there are organisms. View quote
Janine Benyus
Nature works with five polymers. Only five polymers. In the natural world, life builds from the bottom up, and it builds in resilience and multiple uses. (Janine Benyus)
For businesses, biomimicry is about bringing a new discipline - biology - to the design table. It's not to write an environmental impact statement, as most biologists in business do right now. View quote
Janine Benyus
Conserving habitats is a wellspring for the next industrial revolution. View quote
Janine Benyus
Everyone is trying to jump on the biomimic bandwagon. But a cork floor is not biomimicry. Neither is using bacteria to clean water. View quote
Janine Benyus
Biological knowledge is doubling every five years. View quote
Janine Benyus
Green chemistry is replacing our industrial chemistry with nature's recipe book. It's not easy, because life uses only a subset of the elements in the periodic table. And we use all of them, even the toxic ones. View quote
Janine Benyus