The Life Box – Is It “Biomimicry” ?

I got a "Life Box" in the mail yesterday. Here is a picture of it.

There are many reasons to like the Life Box. But first, what is a Life Box, anyway?

The Life Box is a cardboard box. You ship things around in it. But it is different from other cardboard boxes because the Life Box has seeds impregnated in it (plus some mushroom mycelium). When you are done with shipping it around (and, hopefully, it will get used and reused several times), you "retire" the box to let the seeds germinate. What do they grow? Trees. Trees for shade. Trees for camping under. Trees for absorbing CO2.

The Life Box provides a second use for something that many worry about because of its environmental impact, namely packing material. The Life Box gives a second, long-lasting purpose to what otherwise would end up as trash. This cartoon on the side of a Life Box suggests its destiny in four cartoon frames:

Why the mushroom mycelium? I'm not a mushroom expert (a "mycologist"), but the person who invented the Life Box is. That person, Paul Stamets, has an undying passion for the environment. The role of the mycelium is to help the seedlings along, in a symbiotic relationship that I don't quite understand, except to say that such relationships in Nature are a good thing. Thank God for them! You know what a "Life Box" is, so is this a case of "biomimicry"?

What is Biomimicry? In the words of Janine Benyus, biomimicry is "about taking the genius of the natural world and learning something from it". Benyus coined the term biomimicry in her 1997 book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.

Examples of Biomimicry can, perhaps, make clear what Janine means. Examples include velcro (inspired by burrs stuck to dog fur), passive cooling (observed in termite towers in Africa), and self-healing plastics (like the way blood clots). You can find more examples in these two articles: Fifteen Coolest Cases of Biomimicry and Nature-Inspired Innovation: 9 Examples of Biomimicry in Action.

The Life Box Is A Clever Way To Transport Seeds, and in that way The Life Box has similarities to pine cones, dandelions, and peaches. Each of these demonstrates Nature's cleverness in propogating seeds. Like pine cones, the Life Box protects its seeds until they are ready to grow. Like dandelions, whose parachutes carry the seeds through the air, the Life Box allows seeds to be carried over a distance. (Since cargo often travels in airplanes, the comparison is even more apt.) Like peaches, whose fleshy pulp nourishes baby seeds, the Life Box has mushroom mycelium that nurtures its seeds.

My Conclusion on the original question, "Is the Life Box the product of biomimicry?", is that I do not know. According to Janine Benyus' definition, it depends whether Mr. Stamets was inspired by the "genius of Nature" or not. For that, I need to ask the inventor. Which means, I'm afraid, it must be the subject of a future post. Whatever the source, there is genius in the Life Box.

For more information on the Life Box, visit this website: www.lifeboxcompany.com.