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.

Let The Sunshine In To Lift Your Mood Naturally

| November 10, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing
Light exposure is deeply tied to our wellbeing. When the days grow shorter, we need to be proactive to boost our sunlight and nature exposure. Good Earth Plant Company San Diego 858-576-9300
Are you feeling a little blue? You might be tempted to blame this week’s presidential election results. Hillary Clinton gave a gracious concession speech, and we hope the best for President-elect Donald Trump (and don’t go changing our environmental laws any time soon). But it might not be the only reason you aren’t your usual cheerful self. The weekend before Election Day, we went through our annual change back from Daylight Time to Standard Time in the United States. Just the one hour of difference means most people are going home from work in the dark, and it also makes us aware we are slowly losing daylight a few minutes at a time until we reach the winter solstice on December 21 – just six weeks away.… Read More

Halloween: Good Earth Plant Company’s Favorite Biophilic Holiday

| October 27, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Nature and Wellbeing
No one loves Halloween more than California’s farmers, because we live in one of the top five pumpkin producing states. And everyone knows you can’t have Halloween without pumpkins! The others are Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Eighty percent of our U.S. pumpkin crop is available in the month of October. Displaying a pumpkin or carving one into a traditional Jack-O-Lantern is a popular Halloween tradition. Learning how this came about is a lesson in how deeply our modern world remains tied through our traditions to the earth and our relationship with the seasons and nature. You can thank America’s Irish immigrants for Halloween in this country.… 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

Amazon Goes Big With New HQ Biosphere in Seattle

| August 4, 2016 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Living Walls, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
Rendering of the Amazon headquarters "biospheres" under construction in Seattle. Photo Courtesy NBBJ
Outrageous workplace perks in the tech industry have reached epic proportions. Google has the reputation of offering the most extreme benefits. Google better enjoy its status while it can. The new Amazon headquarters in downtown Seattle is going to blow Google’s free laundry services and the Facebook snack bar away. Amazon is building three massive “biosphere” type greenhouses as part of its new $4 billion headquarters in the hip Denny Regrade. These three connected greenhouses will house 65,000 square feet of tropical plants, with 3,000 different species. Compare this to the San Diego Botanical Garden in Balboa Park. It houses 2,100 species of plants in just under 20,000 square feet of space.… Read More

Plants’ Secret Language: Can They Communicate?

| July 21, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
People have been talking to plants for years. Is there now a way for plants to talk to us?
When I first got started working with plants professionally in the late 1970s, talking to your plants to make them grow better was a hot topic. Even Prince Charles said in a 1986 interview that he talked to his plants. “I just come and talk to the plants, really. Very important to talk to them; they respond.” Some people thought it was pretty hippie dippy, but others took it seriously including a lot of scientists, long before the 1970s fad. German researcher Gustav Fechner wrote a book about it in 1848. Electrical signals in plants were discovered over 100 years ago, in 1873, by British scientist John Burdon-Sanderson.… Read More

Nature Has The Answer to Our Toughest Questions (As Usual)

| July 7, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Could a bionic leaf help us cut our use of fossil fuels for energy and solve the global warming crisis? Research at Harvard University is promising.
The quest to find a new energy source and solve our global warming problem could come down to turning over a new leaf. It’s one of the most exciting developments in science I’ve read about in a long time. Daniel Nocera, the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University, has been working on a way to find a new energy source that is practical and replicable. His work is based on one of the most efficient energy processing machines there is: the simple plant leaf, which is responsible for turning light (solar energy) into chemical energy that it can use to fuel growth.… Read More

Summer Gardening Projects Let Kids Get Dirty and Keep Parents Happy

| June 9, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Share your spare veggies and other produces with co-workers this summer.
Kids are counting down the days until school is out for the summer. Don’t we all remember that feeling? If you’re a parent, you have a different perspective. Something like, “oh no, how am I going to keep the kids busy and out of trouble all summer!” Why not encourage your kids to do something that comes naturally? Encourage them to get their hands dirty in fun gardening activities. Take advantage of San Diego’s summer weather to work on projects outdoors when it’s cool enough, and indoors when the sun is a little too strong. There are many age appropriate opportunities for gardening and art projects that will instill a love of nature that will last a lifetime.… Read More

Dr. Nature Prescribes Gardening for Good Health

| June 1, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Monday, June 6 is National Gardening Exercise Day. Get a little dirty and celebrate.
Have you seen all the fitness wristbands on the market? It seems like they can measure nearly anything! Of course you have to be doing something to measure in the first place. We are told that sitting is the new smoking, and if we work behind a desk at all we’ve got to get up and move frequently. The goal is to walk 10,000 steps in a day or get the equivalent amount of exercise. Sure, it sounds easy but it means you need to get in a minimum of five miles of walking per day. If you walk at a brisk pace this can be an hour and 15 minutes or more.… Read More

Don’t Read This Blog Post and You’ll Be Happier

| March 30, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Happiness and what makes people happier has always been a keen interest of mine. You might think it’s because I started my career in Plantscaping and green building working in a flower shop. Because flowers make people happy, right? It actually goes back even further for me, a generation further to be exact. My father, Bob, has always loved nature and it definitely rubbed off on me. When he took up nature photography as a serious hobby and then a second profession, it reinforced all those lessons from my childhood. Check out his website here, you’ll love it as much as I do.… Read More

It’s Natural Good Earth Plants Loves the Start of Spring

| March 23, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Gardening, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Sometimes when you live in San Diego, you don’t take notice of the change in seasons. It’s not all that obvious when we move from spring to summer, or summer to fall. We don’t see spring when the cherry blossoms bloom like in Washington D.C. So if the first day of spring this year got by you on the calendar last Sunday in San Diego, it’s understandable. But if you look, you will find new growth and flowers that only bloom this time of year. Chances are though you know it’s spring from some undeniable internal signals. For one thing, we have more daylight.… Read More