Ten Tips for an Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving Dinner

| November 20, 2014 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing
This turkey looks ready for a green Thanksgiving! How about you?
Use reusable plates, glasses and napkins. Yes, get out the good china, and skip the paper or (yikes) Styrofoam plates. Even when you account for original production of ceramics and using water to clean the plates you come out ahead here. Use local and organic foods as much as possible. See what your local farmer’s market has to offer the week before Thanksgiving and get creative. Organic food is chemical-free, and promote biodiversity and better soil quality. Compost your scraps. The average American family wastes 600 pound of uneaten food every year. The least you can do is start a compost bin and make your scraps useful and your plants happy.… Read More

Give Thanks For Good Earth Plant Company’s Trivia Contest

| November 13, 2014 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company
Which of these popular Thanksgiving vegetables is native to North America, and which ones are not?
Part of our mission at Good Earth Plant Company is to share what we have learned and educate our clients and friends. But we also like to have fun, so why not combine the two? Welcome to our first Good Earth Plant Company Trivia Contest, first in what we hope will be a long running series. We will give you ten questions on a specific theme. The rules are simple. Email your ten answers to Katelyn@goodearthplants.com The person who gets the most questions right by 12 midnight on Saturday, November 15 gets a swell prize: your choice of a beautiful potted orchid, or a $20 Starbucks gift card.… Read More

From Eyesore to Eye-Popping: Our Planned Parenthood Living Wall

| November 10, 2014 | Categories: Case Studies, Living Walls
Plants can truly be the most transformative of gifts. Planned Parenthood of Mission Valley was the lucky recipient of a donor gift, designated specifically to transform a old fountain into a centerpiece for its outdoor entry gathering space. GreenScaped Buildings Project Manager Kerry Bauer worked with the client to determine which living wall system would be the best solution and fit within the existing space. After a thorough design evaluation, a little creativity turned up the perfect plan. Since the client had an open-ended time frame, we started with less mature plants and gave them double the normal growing time to securely root into the manufacturer’s shallow cell tray system before being mounted vertically.… Read More

Let Your Indoor Plants Chill Out This Winter

| November 6, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants
When you reposition plants to get the most winter light, it also helps to be sure your windows are nice and clean. Photo: Flickr/FD Richards
You might look outside at San Diego’s weather and find this hard to believe, but it really is fall, and winter is right around the corner. You can feel it when you get up on these cool early mornings. Maybe you’re wearing socks along with your flip flops, our way of bundling up in Southern California. (Not a good look, but that is another column). While you may not feel the change of seasons, your indoor plants do. They thrive in the spring and summer just like their outdoor counterparts. And just like your outdoor plants, they need some special care during the cooler months of the year, even if they aren’t so cool in San Diego.… Read More

Tips for Preventing The Time Change From Affecting Your Health

| October 30, 2014 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Sustainable Living
Don't forget to "fall back" this weekend on Saturday, Nov. 1.
This weekend we change our clocks from Daylight Time to Standard Time in the U.S. and Canada (unless you’re reading this from Arizona, Hawaii, four U.S. territorial islands or a few small spots north of the border). Before going to bed on Saturday, November 1, turn your clocks BACK one hour. You’re welcome. Our public service announcement for the week is concluded. Now for our safety message: Next week, be extra careful commuting, especially driving home. The transition to standard time increases motor vehicle accidents, especially fatal accidents and pedestrian vs. car accidents. It is estimated that sticking with daylight time year-round would prevent 195 deaths from car accidents, and another 171 pedestrian fatalities.… Read More

Halloween Décor, The Green Way

| October 23, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Halloween is just weeks away and it is time to decorate. If you want more than just a pumpkin and some spider webs in your office, what better to add than a few Halloween themed plants? Good Earth Plants employee and Eco-Warrior Alexa McEntarffer has her black lily on her desk. Check it out. Very creative! What decorations do you have? If you are one of our Good Earth Plant clients who receive our exceptional plant service, or if you’re maintaining your own plants, when decorating keep the fake cobwebs off your plants. It can harm the plants and be hard to remove.… Read More

Celebrities Setting Trends With Their Living Walls

| October 16, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Living Walls
This green wall is in a beautiful residence in Del Mar, CA
Living walls are popping up everywhere. Just a few weeks ago we wrote about the living wall (also known as a vertical garden) on Ellen DeGeneres’s new talk show set. Ellen isn’t the only one in Hollywood with a love for living architecture. Two of Hollywood’s most famous and talented women, Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Alba, have living walls in their very own homes they are proud to show off. Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux rented this beautiful home during the remodel of their Bel Air mansion. It features a lush living wall at the entrance of the home that is accompanied by a peaceful stream.… Read More

Always a Winner: San Diego’s Orchids and Onions Awards

| October 9, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
The Old Police Headquarters project Good Earth Plants worked on won an Orchid.
I had a great time at the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s “Orchids and Onions” event last week at the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park. It is hard to believe I haven’t missed this event in 20 years. One of the best things about the event is seeing industry friends and colleagues including Kelly Dixon, Richard Cox, Roger Lewis, Howard Blackson, Patricia Trauth, Glen Schmidt, Roger Lewis, David McCullough, and so many more of you. It was a blast! If you aren’t familiar with it, “Orchids and Onions” is a tongue in cheek fundraising program put on by the San Diego Architectural Foundation to provides interaction with the design community with the goal of educating and raising awareness among San Diegans about our built environment including its architecture, urban planning, landscapes architecture, and more.… Read More

Go Green at Sea: Royal Caribbean’s New Ships

| October 2, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Living Walls
This new living wall aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship will really get around. Courtesy Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean is known for its extravagant cruises and for keeping its guests happy with the latest shipboard innovations. Its ships “Oasis of the Seas” (what a great name!) and “Allure of the Seas” feature the perfect balance of activities and relaxation. Where better to relax in the middle of the deep blue sea than in the green of the Royal Caribbean Central Park? This version of Central Park is an onboard neighborhood garden covered with 12,000 beautiful living plants. Good Earth Plant Company was thrilled to learn about this, and we are so glad to see ships growing real plants instead of displaying all replicas as many have done in the past.… Read More

Tips From Good Earth Plants To Keep Your Plants Healthy This Fall

| September 25, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Fall leaves remind us of nature’s cycles—letting go, embracing change, and making space for new growth
Earlier this week it officially became Fall 2014, although with our recent warm weather it may be hard to believe.  Good Earth Plants wants to make sure you have the knowledge to tend your plants properly throughout the fall season. We know in the fall leaves change colors on the trees, and the weather cools down. How does this affect our indoor plants – or does it? Yes, our indoor plants react to the change of seasons, too. During the cooler seasons, there are fewer hours of daylight and the sun is farther away from Earth in the Northern Hemisphere. With less sun shining, we tend to leave our windows closed and turn up the heat.… Read More