Photo courtesy of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at Colorado University Boulder

Not only are they alive but they can reproduce. Like a unicellular organism, cut one in half and soon you get two. They’re the stuff of science fiction, a cooperation between biology and engineering that absorbs carbon instead of spewing it out. Essentially held together by Jell-O, they promise to revolutionize how we construct our buildings.  

Ingredients

• Photosynthetic microbes

• Whatever ground recycle materials you have on hand (sand, concrete, glass, etc.)

• Water

• Gelatin

• Nutrients

Directions 

• Mix ingredients together and pour into a mold.

• Refrigerate until solidified.

• Serve raw with a pinch of self-righteous pride.

Inspiration: Bricks Alive! Scientists Create Living Concrete

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 16

Photo by Lerone Pieters on Unsplash

1. Taking allergy pills year-round

2. Checking the air quality before going outside in the summer

3. Taking extra caution to avoid ticks – and Lyme disease

4. Using air conditioning in my car for six months out of the year

5. Actively missing snow – where did it go??

6. Preparing for lengthy delays when I fly, no matter the season

7. Looking at the flood map before moving to a new area

8. Looking at the wildfire map before traveling West

9. Not knowing what “normal” is anymore

10. Wondering if we’re going to make it

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 15

Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

Our prevailing story these days, the one we want everyone to rally around in order to move forward, is, ironically, about going back. It is about undoing. Or, more accurately, de-doing:

De-carbonizing the economy
De-colonizing our practices
De-listing endangered species
De-populating the planet
De-extinction

Can de-doing the doing we have done get us to new doings or does it keep us trapped in old paradigms? Is the brain gymnastic involved in constructing the flip side of an experience – like back-engineering the negatives of a photograph – generative? What if we invented new doings that have never been done instead?

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 14