Dune grasses on Cape Cod. Photo by {a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/nesson-marshall/7783797618/”}Nesson Marshall {/a} CC BY-NC-SA.

High tech biomimicry case studies generate a lot of buzz (who doesn’t love the idea of octopus technology in your e-reader?). But simple solutions can be just as transformative.

For example, a local paper in Provincetown, Massachusetts, recently reported on a beach restoration project that employed biomimicry principles to stabilize a wind-swept beach. Resident Gordon Peabody helped reverse erosion by planting slats of wood in patterns that imitate the growth of natural beach vegetation. When the wind blows, the slats create just enough resistance to collect and hold shifting sand, just as the dune grasses would.