Nature is all around us. What if it was a guide for how we re-imagine our climate's future?
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Nature is all around us. It’s the food we eat, the places we go, the hot gal walks we take, and SO MUCH MORE. Heck, we’re a part of nature! But, what if nature was more than a place or a thing? What if it was a guide for how we re-imagine our future?
Nature-based solutions invite us to look at the systems that have sustained life on Earth for millions of years and ask: what can we learn from them? Nature already holds countless answers.
Here’s what we’ll cover step-by-step:
This Action Pack is for you to reflect on your relationship with nature, explore real-world examples, and imagine how learning from nature could reshape the way we live and care for our planet.
🎯 Action step 1 of 4: READ — Let's start by looking at a few articles together.
Every CONNECT module, you’ll get up to four prompts to connect with yourself, others, spirit, and systems. Your mission is to take what’s in these Action Packs and bring it into one of those dimensions.
💡When you have a problem in your life that requires a creative solution, where do you go? (this can be nature, a friend, the internet, but get specific) What types of settings make you feel most joyful, hopeful, or creative?
💡Imagine this: It's 100 years from now. The climate crisis has gotten worse in predictable ways, but our solutions have far outpaced it. Nature, art, and technology are working together in a solarpunk future.
💡What does that look like? What are some of the things you're seeing/not seeing?
💡What are some examples of nature-based solutions you've seen in the places you've been?
💡How can the concept of nature-based solutions reframe your relationship with humanity as being part of the solution, not just the problem?
💡What are the tradeoffs you are willing to make (money, time, energy) to continue coexisting with nature? What will you start, stop, or continue doing?
The above are great conversation starters for friends who don't consider themselves "climate people," which is wild to us, because if you like going outside in nature and breathing air, are you not a "climate person?"
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 1 of 4: READ.
🎯 Action step 2 of 4: LISTEN — we'll watch a short video or listen to a podcast to further expand on our topic.
What do nature-based solutions look like in practice? Well, let’s first look at a hyperlocal project that created some…global implications.
The Aurora Bridge was the first major bridge in the United States designed exclusively for cars. (Booooo.) It's built over a body of water, as many bridges are, and all the yucky stuff from the highway goes directly into Lake Union below it.
Salmon have to swim through Lake Union during their migration, and because of the toxic stormwater runoff, they have been... unwell. Usually, worse.
It turns out, when you run that same polluted water through soil, THE SALMON CAN LIVE! Read more about the project here. Here’s also the story of the Aurora Bridge Bioswale in the 5-minute video below:
You’ll learn that:
If you want to learn more about nature-based solutions, your next quest is to look at case studies from the Living Building Challenge. Living Buildings are SUCH a cool example of nature-based solutions, and we’ve spent more hours than we’re proud of just lurking on this website. Maybe it'll be your next addiction too.
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 2 of 4: LISTEN.
🎯 Action step 3 of 4: ACT — Now it's time to do something. Let's go!
It might be easier said than done to put a nature-based solution into practice, but we’re here to break it down in easy steps. Take action by choosing an area of advocacy based on NCCJC's 4 R's for Social Transformation framework.
1. RE-IMAGINE and then RE-CREATE a project in your own life that you can redesign with nature-based principles.
You could abolish your lawn, for instance, and plant native plants. Or you could run around town with a native plant shaker and sprinkle it around whenever you can. Or you can replace chemicals in your house with natural ingredients, like making wheatpaste instead of buying glue and then use it to stick up resistance posters. Or natural cleaning products.
Here are 50 examples of nature-inspired design (aka biomimicry) that you can explore for more inspiration, especially if your dreams exceed the humble household!
2. RESIST the disappearance of nature in our media.
Grist recently reported that the words we're using to talk about nature are disappearing. According to a UK study, "the use of nature-related words declined more than 60 percent between 1800 and 2019." Sixty percent!! Make a list of words you'll bring back. Our language shapes our reality.
3. REIMAGINE by meeting fellow biomimicry practitioners. You can join the Biomimicry Institute's community! They have classes, convenings, and more.
4. REFORM your household with products designed through the lens of biomimicry.
For example, every time you wash your clothing, you're inadvertently dumping (micro)plastic into the ocean. Since many of our clothes are made from polyester, which is plastic, it sheds its teeny tiny filaments. Washing a single fleece jacket (aka...plastic) can release almost ONE MILLION plastic microfibers. Yuck!! The good news is, you can find a Cora Ball for your washing machine that catches about a third of these microfibers. They designed it by looking at how coral reefs filter particles from flowing water!
Most importantly, you can be a nature-based solution by modeling the change you want to see.
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 3 of 4: ACT.
Before we go any further, it's time for you to pledge your commitment. It takes less than 30 seconds to pledge and we can bother you about it in a friendly way, so we can hold each other accountable. Pledge here!
🎯 Action step 4 of 4: REFLECT — what can you commit to? What fresh perspectives can we look at?
Above, we talked about how now the words we're using to describe nature are disappearing, and bringing nature words back was one of our bite-sized actions. One of our Soapbox members, Jillian, came up with like... basically the entire alphabet, and it is FANTASTIC.
The Nature Alphabet Version 1, by Soapbox Project and Planet Earth
Apricity (a word for the warmth of the sun in the winter. We had to look it up and found this lovely list.)
Bioluminescence
Chlorophyll
Deciduous
Earth
Flora (and fauna)
Glade
Halcyon
Iridescent
Jade
Katabatic (A katabatic wind is a downslope wind caused by the flow of an elevated, high-density air mass into a lower-density air mass below under the force of gravity)
Lynx
Moonbow
Nimbus (a luminous vapor, cloud, or atmosphere about a god or goddess when on earth)
Overgrowth
Petrichor
Quicken (to come to life; e.g. seeds quickening in the soil)
Resplendent
Susurrus (a whispering or rustling sound)
Tempest
Umbra
Verdant
Wane
Xylem (omg I'm so happy because I was gonna say xylophone and call it a day)
Yeti
Zephyr
If nature has spent billions of years refining what works, maybe the smartest thing we can do is start paying closer attention. 🌱
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 4 of 4: REFLECT.
Check out our membership community for more resources like free weekly events with social justice experts, sustainable product discounts, pre-written email templates, a social impact job board, and in-person hangouts with new friends. Thanks for taking action with Soapbox Project!