Lovely example of biomimicry from Ecovative via Grist:
Usually you do not want fungi in the walls of your home. But Ecovative is building a home in which having fungi in the walls is the entire point. The “Mushroom Tiny House” will use mycelium (the mass of threadlike “roots” that mushrooms use to take in nutrition) for insulation.
According to Inhabitat, this stuff is basically asbestos except that it’s not bad for the planet, won’t give you cancer, and is related to something you might put on a pizza…
A recent start-up in Portland, Oregon is social car sharing. Instead of renting from a carshare company, you rent cars by the hour from people around you. So “waste” unused car hours are reduced and the car owner gets some extra income. (Part of the scheme includes management of risk issues such as insurance.) It’s…
Most human behaviour is dictated by our opinions and beliefs about the world. If we don’t examine and test them, we can end up becoming impotent, angry and depressed. In the sustainability game and especially in the media, one limiting belief I come across repeatedly is that “Sustainability requires government action.”
Breakthrough leaders come from Mars In the classic business development book “Good to Great”, Jim Collins describes the special type of leaders that create sustainable, breakthrough results as “leaders from Mars”. They are a unique combination of personal humility and professional will – quiet and unassuming, shunning the limelight. They have time for family and…
Mad Scientist Radio recently hosted a special edition on The Blue Economy in Australasia with guests Dr Martin Blake and Leigh Baker. The scientists took a break from talking about SEO to discuss the exciting, regenerative potential of this opportunity-based approach to business sustainability that uncovers value and cash flow in unexpected places. The Blue…
Behind the products we buy is a complex web of businesses that collaborate to make, transport, store, sell and deliver everything that goes in to the final product. This web is often (simplistically) described as “the supply chain”. Each business in a supply chain is a group of people combining a range of skills, ideas and…
I was inspired by ‘Cradle to Cradle’ when it first came out – as a business analyst in the manufacturing game it just made so much sense. Good to see a followup – “The Upcycle” is going on my reading list – after I get through “The Blue Economy”. As an Ontological Practitioner who believes…
