Biophilia

The concept of biophilia suggests an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. Biophilia is the science exploring the human connection to nature and all living things. In his 1973 book The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, Sociologist Erich Fromm described it as “the passionate love of life and all that is alive.” Biologist Edward Wilson wrote in 1984 that human beings are biologically hardwired to need a connection with the natural world.

Whether in architecture or interior design, basing design on the principles of biophilia seeks to connect building occupants more closely to nature. Biophilic buildings incorporate natural lighting and ventilation, natural landscape features, and other elements to create a more productive and healthier built environment for people. Natural light, living plants, living walls, natural textures and materials, and nature views will provide a positive impact. Simulations such as artwork, moss walls, and replica walls are equally effective.

Good Earth Plant Company leverages its expertise in horticulture and plant styling to enrich peoples’ lives with plants, a key element of biophilia by bringing Nature into the built environment with container plants, living walls, moss walls, green roofs, and more.

Your Top Questions About Biophilic Design Answered

v
The coronavirus pandemic made us more aware of creating healthier indoor spaces, especially in the workplace. Employers are starting to pay attention. “The Great Resignation” has fired up their interest in making workplaces safe and inviting. I’ve read the words “biophilia” and “biophilic design” in the news and on websites more than ever before in the last 18 months. It’s mentioned in articles like this one, and this one, and even this one. Good Earth Plant Company does its part by enriching peoples’ lives with plants and using our award-winning blog to inform our readers about the principles of biophilia and biophilic design.… Read More

Take A Virtual Tour of the Good Earth Plant Company’s New Biophilic Warehouse

Take a virtual tour of our brand new biophilic warehouse at Good Earth Plant Company.
After more than four decades, Good Earth Plant Company has a brand new 2,000 square foot working warehouse and workshop facility. It’s been on our wish list since we moved to our Kearny Mesa property in 1994. When I bought the property 18 years ago, there was a large, three-sided mechanic’s shed. It was torn down in 2007. Since that time, we used the old concrete floor as a large patio and created a “living lab” with examples of living walls. This is where the new warehouse sits.  We relocated our living walls and they continue to thrive. We’ll give you a tour in a future blog post.… Read More

Pay Attention To The Power of Plants at Work

We’ve learned some hard lessons thanks to the coronavirus pandemic about how much our health and wellbeing is governed by our environment inside our homes, workplaces, schools, public facilities, and other buildings like stores and movie theaters. Anything we can do to improve the quality of our indoor environment needs to be a priority. Our surroundings make such a difference in our health because people in industrialized countries including the U.S. spend more than 90% of their time indoors. It makes me even more relentless about the work we do at Good Earth Plant Company to improve indoor environments by enriching peoples’ lives with plants, by promoting biophilic design and the WELL Building Standard, and by talking about this with you – and as many other people I can get to pay attention!… Read More

Listen Up: Our Latest Blog Is a Podcast about Plants

Jim Mumford recently appeared on the "It's Your Life" radio show - and now you can hear the podcast version on demand. podcast about plants
Time for something a little different on the Good Earth Plant Company blog this week. You can listen instead of read! I recently spent an hour on the “It’s Your Life” radio show in San Diego, which is also a podcast on all platforms. The theme of the show: “Bringing the Living World of Plants Into Our  Everyday Life.” I couldn’t have done better myself! Host Jim Cooley and co-host Michelle Cooley (yes, they’re husband and wife)  put their curiosity and interviewing skills to good use. They both asked all about plants, plantscaping, living walls, moss walls, green roofs, biophilia and biophilic design – and more.… Read More

Indoor Plant Index Is Rising Fast

It's not your imagination. Indoor plants are in short supply and they are worth more. Illustration: Mohamed Hassan Indoor Plant Index
Have you noticed how hard it is to find certain products or services lately? It’s not your imagination. Because of the way many of our spending and purchasing habits have changed combined with unusual limitations due to supplies and employment, there’s a lot more demand. At the top of the list, the home improvement industry has gone wild. While we were all stuck at home, we looked around and realized we needed to refresh our surroundings. This means we all called contractors, plumbers, painters, and electricians, and plantscapers. The good ones are busy, so get in line soon. It’s a shock to see the jump in building material prices, especially lumber and plywood.… Read More

National Gardening Exercise Day: June 6

Get in your workout by getting in some gardening! Sunday, June 6 is National Gardening Workout Day. Photo: Jim Mumford
Our sedentary lives really hit home for many people over the last year. Did you gain the COVID-19, or was it 20 pounds? We now understand sitting in front of a screen for much of the day can be as harmful to our health as smoking cigarettes. Walking more is great, and if you have a treadmill desk, it’s not so tough to finish 10,000 steps in a day. But if you need to go for a walk the old-fashioned way – yes, outside! – it means you need to get in a minimum of five miles of walking per day.… Read More

World Naked Gardening Day 2021 is Here!

Grab your tools and get outside for World Naked Gardening Day 2021 this Saturday, May 1. Photo: Jim Mumford
Thank you, Mother Nature. Summer temperatures are ahead for Southern California this weekend, just in time for one of our favorite days all year. Yes, Saturday is the 17th annual World Naked Gardening Day! More good timing: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its guidance this week on COVID-19 mask guidelines. Fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear a mask outdoors. At home, you don’t need a mask outside, of course. Great news for the 30% of us who are fully vaccinated. When we first found out about WNGD several years ago at Good Earth Plant Company, we got a big laugh out of it.… Read More

Celebrate Earth Day 2021: Fight Global Warming With Gardening 

Today is Earth Day 2021: the 51st year for Earth Day. It was founded on April 22, 1970, by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. He was inspired by student protests against the Vietnam War and hoped to inspire a similar outcry against our war on the environment. It might not be an official national holiday, but it’s an important day to all the Eco-Warriors at Good Earth Plant Company and important for us to call it to every reader’s attention. It’s easy to get discouraged about climate change and global warming and easy to feel powerless about stopping it. But it’s possible if we all add a little effort, which will add up to a lot if we don’t give up.… Read More

Plants Matter: Our Ten Reasons Why

From avocados to zucchini, plants are the basis for all foods humans consume. Photo: Any Lane/Pexels Plants Matter
Food Are you reading this over a meal or snack? Without plants, forget having anything to eat. Every single one of the calories in proteins, fats, and carbohydrates we consume comes from plants. Yes, this includes meat, because animals we consume as food eat plants. Plants use the energy created from photosynthesis to convert carbon-dioxide to complex molecules animals including people eat for food. It hardly gets more basic than this! But we have nine more reasons to go. Oxygen Hold your breath. You probably can’t do it for more than a few minutes. Life on Earth depends on oxygen, and that oxygen comes mostly from plants, which generate oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis.… Read More

Our Favorite Holiday Is Here! Celebrate Biophilia on St. Patrick’s Day with Good Earth Plant Company

Our friend Stumpy, who lives in Jim Mumford's yard, is excited to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Photo: Jim Mumford
Most people say their favorite holiday is Christmas. Thanksgiving comes next, but Halloween has nearly caught up. Our favorite holiday didn’t even make the list! We’re here to celebrate OUR favorite holiday at Good Earth Plant Company. You don’t have to be Irish (or part Irish like me) to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. Think St. Patrick’s Day is all about cheers, beers, and parties? Think again! St. Patrick’s Day celebrates Nature. It’s the original Biophilic Holiday. We’ll explain. St. Patrick’s Day History  You may have Irish heritage like me, as many Americans do. Ireland has a long history of emigration.… Read More