Biomimicry: Using biological adaptation as a model for sustainability

Here's an excerpt from an essay on biomicry by Janine Benyus:

"Another of my favourite examples is the humming-bird, an organism about the size of my thumb. It flies up to thirty-five miles an hour (faster than you can get around most cities in a cab) and migrates about 2,000 miles a year. Those journeying down the eastern flyway reach the lip of the Gulf of Mexico and then pause for a while, fuelling up on 1,000 blossoms a day. Finally, they burst across 600 miles of open water without stopping, on a whopping 2.1 grams of fuel. And that's not jet fuel: it's nectar.
But here's what amazes me even more: in the process of fuelling up, the humming-bird manages to pollinate its energy source, ensuring that there will be nectar next year - for itself, for its offspring, or for completely unrelated species of nectar feeders.
In the process of meeting their needs, organisms manage to fertilise the soil, clean the air, clean the water, and mix the right cocktail of atmospheric gases that life needs to live."

To read the whole article, visit: http://www.resurgence.org/2005/benyus230.htm