Nature has a 3.5 billion-year head start on designing products, processes, and systems and it shows.  Nature is indescribably brilliant in its ability to produce the widest range of chemicals and materials using locally available starting materials, usually at ambient temperatures and pressures, completely eliminating the concept of waste, and doing it in a way that is conducive to life.  In the face of this ingenuity, the only wise and sustainable strategy is to take Nature as a mentor and a guide in designing human made products and systems.  The lessons to be learned are limitless and the benefits to be had, essential.