Biophilia
We get asked a lot to create edible walls and green roofs that are roof top farms. I recently ran across this thought-provoking article, thought-provoking for me at least as a person who thinks a lot about our relationships to plants, nature and the Earth.
This research in this article shows 90 percent of all the people in the United States could eat foods grown within 100 miles of home. The study was conducted by two engineering professors at the Sierra Nevada Research Institute run by the University of California at Merced. Read it here.
Many people have talked about the need to support local food supplies for many reasons.… Read More
Freaky Friday Orchids
Our most popular blog post of all time is our Monkey Faced Orchids post. You can’t get enough of our photos of orchids that look like monkey faces. They really do!
Orchids, like all flowers, exist in nature to facilitate pollination to continue their species. Flowers develop over time to attract certain friendly insects and birds, and to repel others. Some welcome bees, some are perfect for hummingbirds. The result of this functional need are orchids that look like bees, birds, and people. Even their colors develop in a way to attract the most desirable pollinators with the message “Hey everyone, tasty nectar right here!”… Read More
Naughty or Nice: Good Earth Plants Gets Into The Christmas Tree Debate
The debate about real versus artificial Christmas trees used to be all about authenticity versus convenience. But these days, it’s also about which tree is truly the most earth friendly.
The debate rages on, starting up every year about this time. It never seems to be settled, because both options have their naughty and their nice aspects.
Believe it or not, the first artificial Christmas trees were made from toilet brush bristles in the 1930s by the Addis Brush Company, true – and eww! But don’t worry, most of today’s trees are made from metal and PVC, a petroleum based plastic product.… Read More
Tips for Preventing The Time Change From Affecting Your Health
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
The Top Ten Plants for Cleaning Your Air
If you read our blog regularly (and we hope you are!), you know Good Earth Plants is always looking for new ways plants can benefit you. One of the most important ways is to keep the air in your interior environment at work and home cleaner.
Plants work their magic in part by absorbing toxins into their leaves. When plants scrub these toxins out of the air by processing them through photosynthesis, you don’t process them by breathing them into your lungs.
There isn’t another indoor environment with more concern about keeping its air clean than a space ship, space shuttle, or space station.… Read More
Our Biophilia Connection to Nature
At some time in life, we all become interested in something new and different. Maybe we take up making sushi or read a book on building a treehouse and get inspired to make one. For me I am intrigued by the word biophilia. I got interested in it years ago and whenever I see an article about it I think…hey! I was thinking about that years ago!
Your next question might be: what is biophilia? And why does it haunt Jim Mumford?
Here’s my best shot at a definition. Biophilia is basically an appreciation of life, nature, science and the living world.… Read More




