Marvelous Magic Mushrooms

Mcdonough and Braungart propose a radical shift in the way we think about design. An industrial revolution moving from a "cradle to grave" approach towards a more sustainable "cradle to cradle" method. Ideally following nature's "upcycle" wherein, the idea of waste is non existent, with all parts able to be re used in any form to benefit the whole.

A prime example of this idea of design being "a signal of intention" is evidenced by Far West Fungi in California. They are growing mushrooms in brick shaped containers, and after harvesting the edible mushrooms they dry the thin, white, rootlike material known as mycelium. After being dried the mycelium, which is already shaped and tightly packed due to the growing containers, takes on the form of a "super brick." These bricks are non toxic,fireproof, and mold and water resistant. They also trap heat better than traditional fiberglass insulation, and are stronger, pound for pound, than concrete. Not only is this a no waste building material, but to grow the mycelium corn husks are used as fungi food. This is important because neither humans nor other animals can eat the husks making them essentially a waste byproduct of corn. While this is a fledgling idea, and not yet a full scale production, other companies have begun marketing "mycoproducts." Ecovative, a New York based company, has a mycelium alternative to styrofoam used in packaging. After use the product can be put in your garden for compost.

Mcdonough and Braungart propose that we design "products and systems that celebrate an abundance of human creativity, culture and productivity" and leave an "ecological footprint to delight in." I think that the examples of Far West Fungi and Ecovative embody these design ideals and are great examples of a step in the right direction.

Cycles

Life as we know it is based around cycles.

The cycle starting with photosynthesis uses sun light as energy to convert CO2 +H2O into Sugars and O2. Then humans and other living organisms use Sugars and O2 in respiration to produce energy, H2O and CO2. When a tree falls in the forest bacteria and fungi are already on the scene and start feeding off and breaking down the plant material. Leaving the elements and nutrients in a simplified form, ready for the next young tree. All of these systems work together. They cannot be isolated from one another. They build together, like a storm gathering momentum as it progresses and constantly being affected by every aspect of anything. Resulting in the mind-numbing complexity and diversity of our universe.

Cycles are sustainable because there is no waste. The by-product of one step is the raw materials of the next step. The nestedness and synergy between cycles provides diversity and redundancy. Diversity and redundancy can be thought of as other small scale cycles that are constantly fixing the imbalances in the world. Acting as a sort of buffer zone from drastic change. Designing our world with the natural world as a model we can expect these same benefits. Imagine a world were whenever something has been used up it is transformed into something else. No waste.

Blog # 1 Complexity/Sustainability

Ben Daubenspeck

Blog #1

9/27/10

Complexity/Sustainability

When I hear “complex”, I think of something challenging such as math, getting a new couch into a 3^rd story apartment. But nature gives the word complex a whole new meaning. The word “challenging” flies out the window and “fascinating” takes it place. Tom Wessels talks of complex systems when referring to our bodies. He paints a vivid picture in my mind when he tells how, “during out development we witnessed one cell growing into more than 30 trillion cells”. Then he goes on to say how the 30 trillion cells consist of 254 different types. It baffles me when I think about this stuff because I am someone who likes to make sense of everything, and human existence and the complexity of nature makes no sense to me. I just chalk it all up as a miracle and don’t look very far into it because like I said, the complexity of our bodies, the environment, co-existence, etc, all of that leaves me speechless. Co-evolution is another extremely truly amazing part of life. Wessels says that each species’ plays its own ecological role, meaning that every single species plays an important role in the life cycle. Co-evolution is species adapting to one another, all with the common goal of survival. He mentions the bee and the spider, and how over time the spider has learned to avoid being caught, while the bee has learned tricks on how to lure the spider out in the day time.

With all of these miracles taking place in all forms of life, we are starting to realize our impact as human beings, and how every little thing we do plays a role in the size of our footprint. Over time we have established a very large footprint, and recently we have been concerning ourselves with way to reduce our impact on the earth due to our realizations of the damage we are causing. People are wanting to live more sustainable life styles, mostly meaning that they are looking for way to go green. More people are driving hybrid cars today than ever before, mainly for the reason of saving money on gas, but at the same time they are reducing the size of their foot print compared to someone driving a truck. Also you see more and more people recycling, and looking for “green” labels when shopping. I bought the energy efficient light bulbs for my apartment for example. They are more expensive, but they are proven to use less electricity, in turn lowering my electric bill. So as you can see, a lot of people go green just to save some money, but it is great because at the same time they are reducing their impact and living more sustainable lives, weather they realize it or not. Maybe they are just trying to maintain their budget, but I think that they are being more sustainable at the same time. Going green is typically more expensive at first, but in the long run it proves to be worth it both in the environment and in your wallet.