Sustainable structural materials inspired by nature

Abstract A society's wealth relies on three pillars: human capital, nature, and the economy. Sustainable materials development must uphold all three. For load‐bearing materials, mechanical properties, namely, stiffness, strength, and toughness are crucial for human needs, while energy, water usage, and CO 2 emissions reflect their ecological footprint. Economic viability is determined by cost. By analyzing these characteristics, we show that natural materials such as wood‐based products often surpass synthetic alternatives in sustainability. Compared to wood‐based products, ceramics have a lower or similar ecological footprint. However, their brittleness limits their application in many load‐bearing scenarios. Insights from highly mineralized natural materials, such as seashells and bone, reveal growth patterns, microstructures, and structure‒function relationships that address this limitation—solutions synthetic materials have yet to match. The pressing question remains: can we transition towards materials closer to earth crust for a more sustainable future on our planet?