Local Biomimicry

As a part of my coursework on Biomimicry's Life's Principle to "Be Locally Attuned and Responsive," I wrote an informal white paper on the intersection of Biomimicry and the Transition Town network using my town of Naperville, Illinois, as a case study.  I posed the question,

"What would Naperville look like if it followed the biomimicry principle to be ‘locally attuned and responsive’ in all of its (re)designs?"  

This fits in with our theme for the year at Greendrinks Naperville of local resilience in the face of peak oil and was written to further this discussion.  If you have time to spare and care to read and comment, I would love to hear your thoughts.  Read my paper "Local Biomimicry" here.  

How will we feed ourselves?

Green Drinks - Naperville, an organization I help organize, has decided to delve deeply into the issues of local self-reliance and adaptability this year.  Every month, lectures will focus on the Transition Town initiative as we explore different ways that our community will adapt to peak oil and climate change.

This month's lecture was entitled "how will we feed ourselves?"  Steve Tiwald of the Green Earth Institute and Ron Nowiki of The Land Office discussed organic food production and permaculture, respectfully.

Highlights from Mr. Tiwald's lecture on organic gardening and community supported agriculture:

• There are approximately 6 billion critters in 1 cup of good, organic soil.  The use of petroleum based fertilizers kill these critters.
• 3 c's of organic gardening: Compost, Crop rotation, and Cover crops.  He likes red clover as a cover crop.
• Soybeans are now 80% genetically modified.  The organic seal forbids GMO.

Highlights from Mr. Nowiki's lecture on permaculture and Liberty Gardens

• By 2100, one-half of all species currently alive today will be extinct.  (We are in the middle of 6X, or the sixth major extinction our planet has faced.)
• "a child can only learn so much from a mown lawn"
• A 40' tree transpires 40 gallons of water per day +\-
• A linden or bass wood makes a delicious and flowery tea that is mildly sedative
• An AIA study determined that design changes alone can save 40% in energy costs. 
• Lemon grass makes a beautiful decorative grass in container arrangements with sage surrounding it.  Lemon grass makes a good tea. Ornamental grasses can be harvested and used as mulch under strawberries.
• Kwintis beans are a good pole bean.
• Another decorative arrangement is red cabbage in front of dinosaur kale.
• Tuscan kale - gorgeous tall fountain looking plant.
• Gooseberries for juice.
• Clove currant - fragrant plant with edible berry that doesn't taste that great.
• Apple service berry - gorgeous white glower tree with berry that looks like a blue berry but tastes like a seedy apple; autumn brilliance has a great fall color.
• Elderberry - mates a fritter; berry high in antioxidants, but invasive.
• Rhubarb grows in some shade.
• Hardy kiwi is a vine, also called grape kiwi; best when soft and mushy after a frost
• Neonicotinoids may be causing honeybee colony collapse disorder.
• Bird baths are popular and attract birds to eat insects.
• Succession of a mature landscape.  At first, mice and voles loved his permaculture yard.  Unitl a screetch owl moved in to help control that population.  
• Pesticides we use were evolved from chemical warfare from WW2.  Since production capacity was already there, it was just adapted to a new use.  But do you really want chemical warefare in your food?
• Victory gardens in 1944 produced 40% of produce consumed in the country.
• Compost, sand, and topsoil in equal parts make good soil starter.
• "Liberty Gardens," liberating ourselves from the industrial food supply.
• Sungold cherry tomato.
• Microgreens grow in the basement under lights.  Standard 4' fluorescent bulb almost as good as full spectrum lights.
• Forest gardening - martin Crawford; part shade gardening

References and Future Reading:

• Elliot Coleman, 4 season gardening and the new organic grower
• Rodale institute
• David Orr - Ecological Literacy
• Rogar Swang - Victory Gardens
• Liberty Gardens
• Hold to Nature
• Energy Bullitain

Transition Towns

How will our towns adapt to climate change?

A local group I help organize - Green Drinks Naperville - is addressing this question through a series of monthly presentations this year focused on promoting our local green economy.

It started with the idea of Transition Towns and adapting our local community and economy to the changes that climate change will necessitate.  This idea, promoted by the Transition Network, is based on the ideas of permaculture, but grew beyond food to address holistic climate change adaptation for local towns.  The program provides a framework through which local communities can figure out what the needs of their community will have and help draft a strategic plan to address them.

Goals of the Transition Town include:

• liberate our time (consumers to producers)
• triple bottom line (job sharing, telecommuting, less hours)
• generosity and sharing over hunkering down (collaborative consumption, barter)
• currencies that favor connection and community over hoarding and lack
• economies that consider community well-being as new definition of success
• spirit of "enough for all" rather than "winner takes all"

Initiatives our town will hopefully employ include addressing production and distribution of local food, energy (and resource) harvesting and storage, business and economy, education, building and manufacturing, transportation, government, health/well-being, heart and soul/spirituality, arts and crafts, waste, etc.

Reference:  Green Drinks Naperville lecture on Transition Towns by Jodi Trendler