Human construction uses almost every element in the periodic table, whereas 96% of all living matter is made from just four elements (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen) and the remaining 4% consists mainly of 7 other elements (calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur). Humans tend to assemble materials using high energy bonds that resist recycling. Biology uses low energy materials that are easy to break down. Concrete manufacturing currently accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In nature, the closest thing to concrete is coral, which sequesters carbon instead. Innovative firms that are pioneering biomimicry: - Elora Hardy's bamboo buildings in Bali - Biomason, which produces bricks by using calcifying bacterium to bind grains of sand (this is a zero-carbon process, compared to normal bricks that need to be fired in gas-powered kilns at 1200 degrees celsius.) --- Source: [[Flourish]]