We could certainly try to mimic how mushrooms grow in nature. This is more like the log method. It is possible that they may grow better in a situation such as that. We can compare which method is more successful at growing mushrooms. If there is one thing that nature models for us it’s a culture of action. Animals travel thousands of miles in search of food. In essence, they go at great length in order to be successful. For me, I should take that culture of doing that is seen in nature and apply it to more of my life. While nature is evidently incredibly complex, it is no more complex than it needs to be. We can use this both in our daily lives and in the design of anything. Animals do what is necessary but don’t waste time and energy trying to be fancy with anything unless they have to. This is embodied in Occam’s razor, which basically states that simpler solutions are more likely to be correct than complex ones.

I think being locally attuned and responsive in incredibly important. Within the project I take it as seeing and understanding what’s going on with our mushroom growth and forming a plan of action in order to move forward. The same can be said in any job. It is always important to understand your surroundings and adapt how you act in order to work in that place for effectively. It also has to do with identifying problems responding to those problems in a positive proactive way.

Our project really is in of itself an exercise in cradle-to-cradle design. From the outset our primary inputs are agricultural or industrial waste products. Both rice straw and sawdust are cheap and plentiful. We also plan to use empty beer bottles as spawn jars which actually could reduce the amount of trash in the streets. Additionally, the substrate can be reused up to three times and then can be composted once it’s no longer of use for growing mushrooms. In effect our project actually leaves very little waste behind.

While I certainly can’t claim to be an expert, really everyone on Ukweli has taught be a lot about the healthcare system in Salone. This knowledge can also be helpful in my own work because it means I have at least a slightly greater understanding of the culture of which I am working with. One friend convinced me to go to a rock climbing gym where you belay each other. That along with tying a few knots is not something I had ever done. Now having actually worked at a high ropes course I am a pretty skilled belayer. I had a friend from England explain to me how Dominos is the best pizza he’s ever had. It was particularly puzzling because that’s just about the worst I have had. After seeing him try Pizza here I saw that his opinion was likely due to his overrating dominos, but only because the other pizza is also comparable disgusting. So I guess I learned that at least with regards to pizza, food is in fact pretty bad in the UK.