Gayle Lynn Falkenthal

San Diego Isn’t As Green As It Should Be

| October 20, 2016 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Sustainable Living
When the newest Green Buildings Adoption Index report came out earlier this week ranking the top 30 metropolitan areas in the United States, I checked it to see where San Diego stood. It would be in the Top Ten, right? No – and we didn’t even make the Top 20. In the report by the commercial real estate firm CBRE Group Inc. and Maastricht University in the Netherlands with the U.S. Green Building Council assessing the percentage of green, environmentally friendly and LEED certified buildings in the region, San Diego ranked 21st. This is pretty disappointing to me. San Francisco came in first, with 73.7 percent of its office space classified as “green.”… Read More

Don’t Kill Your Plants With Kindness

| October 13, 2016 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
It's not rocket science, really: humble plants like this Pothos can improve worker productivity. Photo: Julien Gong Min
We love our endless summer in San Diego, but it’s a nice change to finally feel the first hints of fall’s cooler temperatures. The time change back to standard time isn’t too far off either. Even San Diegans start spending a lot more time indoors at this time of year. It motivates me to communicate with our clients and you my blog readers about the importance of maintaining a healthy indoor environment when we start spending more time living and working indoors. You can imagine my reaction when I read this week in the Wall Street Journal about a new study claiming indoor plants could actually be BAD for your health.… Read More

Help Good Earth Plant Company Support “A Growing Passion”

| October 6, 2016 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Gardening, Indoor Plants, Media Coverage, Nature and Wellbeing
Jim Mumford and Nan Sterman, KPBS TV
One of my favorite ways to spend time is to pass along my love of plants and nature and educate people about their many benefits. But even though I try, I can’t do it all myself. I have a business to run after all! There are plenty of other people who feel the same way. One of them is my fellow San Diegan Nan Sterman. Nan is no “Jane come lately” to the sustainability movement. Since the 1970s (as long as me!) Nan has used her skills as a garden designer, author, botanist, and award-winning garden communicator to help transform planted landscapes from overly thirsty and resource intensive to climate appropriate and sustainable.… Read More

Projects Inspiring Us At Good Earth Plants RN

| September 29, 2016 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Sustainable Living
Regular blog readers know about my passion for improving our communities and our health and well being through strengthening our connection to nature. It’s amazing to me how something simple like introducing natural elements in our work environment like plants and natural light can reduce job stress and improve our health overall. I get inspired when I see people around the world creating projects taking this simple idea and making it real. Yes, I also admit to being a little envious too, because I would love to see more projects like this in San Diego. Several projects got a “wow” out of me and I’d like to share them with you for your daily dose of “wow” instead of a basketball trick shot or cute pet video.… Read More

Our 12 Tips to Prevent Stormwater Pollution Runoff

| September 22, 2016 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Architecture and Design, Environment, Green Roofs, Sustainable Living, Water and Water Conservation
I heard the weather report like everyone else, but I never expected the steady amount of rain we received in San Diego County this week, did you? After more than 100 days without measurable rainfall, it was a welcome sight. Rainfall has many benefits, but there is one downside. When rain falls in San Diego after many months of dry weather, pollutants that build up on surfaces like rooftops, parking lots and streets get washed into our storm drains. The reason it’s a big deal: those storm drains dump out directly into the Pacific Ocean, and all those pollutants end up in the water hurting sea life.… Read More

Green Roofs Are Even Greater Than We First Thought

| September 15, 2016 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Green Roofs
North America’s largest living roof – about the size of eight football fields – continues to flourish atop Dearborn Truck Plant’s final assembly building, part of the Ford Rouge Center. Photo: Courtesy Ford Motor Company
When I first installed the green roof at Good Earth Plant Company in 2007, all of the information about the long term impact came from Europe. There weren’t all that many green roofs in the United States and there weren’t many studies being conducted on the few that existed. Times change and we are much more enlightened about the positive impact of green roofs on the immediate environment and their contribution overall. Some of the best studies are coming from The Green Roof Research Program at Michigan State University. One of MSU’s collaborators is a company which might not come to mind when you think about green roofs: the Ford Motor Company.… Read More

Get Down On The Farm: San Diego Farm Tour Day is September 17

| September 8, 2016 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Sustainable Living
It's especially important to avoid using chemical fertilizers and pesticides if you're growing fruits and vegetabes in your garden.
If I asked you to name San Diego’s major industries, you would probably come up with tourism, the military, maybe biotech or craft beer. The one I bet you’d miss is agriculture and farming. Agriculture is the fourth largest industry in San Diego County. It’s a two billion dollar industry. San Diego County has more individual farms than any other county in the United States. Remember this if you get on the TV show “Jeopardy!” Most of our local farms are small boutique farms growing ornamental trees and shrubs, indoor plants and flowers. This is two-thirds of the farming income. Avocados take up more land but generate less profit.… Read More

Helping Homeless San Diegans One Plant At A Time

| September 1, 2016 | Categories: Case Studies, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Alpha Project residents show off their new orchids from Good Earth Plant Company.
Several months ago at a Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C3) panel discussion on the homelessness problem in San Diego, one of the panel members really energized me. Her name is Amy Gonyeau, and she is Chief Operating Officer with the Alpha Project. For those who aren’t familiar with it (like me I’m embarrassed to say), Alpha Project is a nonprofit human services organization that serves over 4,000 homeless men, women, and children each day with a variety of services like affordable housing, residential substance abuse treatment, transportation, mental health counseling, employment training, and also emergency services. I started my career in the plant industry with a flower kiosk on the corner of 6th and B streets in downtown San Diego.… Read More

Go Green When You Remodel Your Home

| August 25, 2016 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
Good Earth Pl;ant Company makes sustainability a way of life.
Plenty of people put off home improvement and remodeling projects over the last few years due to America’s Great Recession. Get ready for a new look in a lot of homes – maybe even your own. Several major industry studies predict a big jump in remodeling activity. The Joint Center for Housing Students of Harvard University projects a trend for home improvement and repair expenses to reach eight percent by 2017, nearly double the historic average, based on its own model it calls the “Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity” or LIRA. And who are we to argue with Harvard? The website HomeAdvisor and the National Association of Home Builders reports also agree with the Harvard outlook.… Read More

I’m Jim Mumford and I Approved This Green Message

| August 18, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Good Earth Plant Company, Sustainable Living
Go green this election and request an electronic sample ballot this year.
The November election is barely 10 weeks away and San Diego County residents will have a LOT of decisions to make. Not just the big one about who will be our next American President, but about legalizing marijuana, changing the way local elections work, and whether we want to help build a new stadium/convention center downtown for the San Diego Chargers. There are so many decisions and so much information for voters, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters will send City of San Diego residents not just one but TWO ballot pamphlets, each more than 100 pages long. Only the fall fashion magazines have more pages (so I am told).… Read More