Wed, Aug 21, 2013
Second Nature: The Biomimicry Evolution explores biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate), a new discipline that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve industrial problems. Set in the wilds of South Africa, the film follows biologist, author, and Time magazine Hero of the Environment Janine Benyus and her team as they illustrate how organisms in the natural world can teach us how to be more efficient and sustainable in our designs and processes. Nature provides the models: solar cells copied from leaves, steely fibers woven like a spider-web, shatterproof ceramics drawn from mother-of-pearl, medical advancements compliments of chimpanzees, and a closed-loop economy that takes its lessons from redwoods, coral reefs, and oak-hickory forests. After 3.8 billion years, life has discovered not only how to survive but also how to thrive as a system. Organisms are the consummate aviators, builders, chemists, and physicists of our planet. They have done everything that we want to do, without polluting their homes or mortgaging their future. Benyus brings a deep affection and admiration for the natural world as she guides the viewer toward a vision of a planet in balance between continued human progress and ecosystem survival.
Wed, Oct 30, 2013
At dawn, nine-year-old Anzelma walks for miles in search of firewood. Many in her village have died from drinking dirty water, and firewood is a valuable commodity, used to boil water to make it safe. Anzelma's small body bends under the heavy loads of wood balanced on her head, but she won't stop. She knows her long journeys into the forest are crucial for her family's survival. Unsafe water claims more lives than war. In Kenya, water insecurity is a life-threatening reality, and the population is expected to leap from 40 million to 60 million in the next twenty years. Most of the country still depends on wood and charcoal for household energy, and forest cover is dwindling. At the same time, the climate is changing: rainfall is decreasing, river levels are low and water contamination is on the rise. In the fierce competition for shrinking resources, the most vulnerable are women and girls, who are responsible for finding water and fuel for their families. One company is attempting to change this by providing 900,000 water filters to the people of Kenya's Western Province, for free. This is the largest household water treatment program in the developing world, and it's being financed with carbon credits earned through the reduction in use of firewood. If successful, it will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 2 million tons per year for a decade or more. But it requires changing the habits of 4.5 million people first.