Environment

Human impact on the Earth’s environment is creating climate change, global warming, and polluting air, land, and water on our planet with disastrous results. We must work to reverse these effects through sustainable practices and through thoughtful design and practices.

Planting Seeds During Black History Month

| February 3, 2021 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Mother Nature is diverse, inclusive, and accessible. It’s only when human beings get involved that we put up barriers due to systemic racism. It’s important to us at Good Earth Plant Company to use our platform to celebrate the contributions of Black Americans to horticulture and gardening during Black History Month 2021. Here are some of our favorite resources for you to explore this topic with us, and we know you’ll be inspired as much as we are. Black agriculture pioneers: Most people know the name George Washington Carver. Dr. Carver was an agricultural scientist at Tuskegee University in Alabama. By the time of his death in 1943 he was the single most important Black scientist of the 20th Century.… Read More

Christmas Tree Trivia by Good Earth Plant Company

| December 22, 2020 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
How much do you know about Christmas tree trivia? Find out in our blog post!
Whether you choose a real fresh cut tree or an artificial tree, the tradition of having a Christmas tree is a wonderful example of biophilia and biophilic design. Especially in places where people need to stay inside during the winter out of the cold, bringing plants inside feeds our biological connection to Nature. We’ve discussed the pros and cons of living vs. artificial trees before, and you’re welcome to review the reasons here. Whichever you are #TeamReal or #TeamFake this year EVERYONE is staying inside more due to the coronavirus pandemic. People eagerly put up their Christmas decorations and trees early and doubled down on their efforts.… Read More

Six Nature Videos to Savor From Good Earth Plant Company

| November 18, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing
The amazing, awe-inspiring Ōhaupō Tree Church In New Zealand is made from living trees. Photo: The Ōhaupō TreeChurch
We love nature videos. We post them from time to time on our Good Earth Plant Company Facebook page (and we hope you’re following us). I’m guessing you might have a little extra time this week? So we decided to step aside from our usual blog format and share some of our favorites with you. Amazing Amazonia In 2018, my son Ted and I took a trip through the Pantanal region south of the Amazon forest in Brazil. Talk about being immersed in nature! So I was thrilled when one of my favorite YouTube channels, Conservation International, produced a video a few weeks ago on the Amazon.… Read More

Lighten Up: Good News In A Dark World

| November 4, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing
Increasing expsure to sunlight during the shorter days can improve your health. Photo: Pixabay daylight
Are you feeling a little disheartened? This week’s contentious presidential election is hard on everyone whether you voted red OR blue. Coming on top of an especially rough year, it’s not a surprise if your mental health isn’t what it used to be. But don’t go blaming 2020 for your problems just yet. 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. The 60 minutes we adjusted our clocks suddenly makes us aware we are slowly losing daylight.… Read More

How to Water Your Plants Using Sub-Irrigation

| August 19, 2020 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Water and Water Conservation
Good Earth Plant Company’s advice on how to water your indoor plants hit pay dirt! Many of you read, commented, and shared the advice in our blog post last week. We are happy to help and thank you for passing our blogs on to your friends and family. The watering tips and methods we discussed all involve surface irrigation. Surface irrigation is any watering technique adding water to the soil from above the plant. Rain provides surface irrigation. But there’s one more way to water your container plants – so call this part three of our series about watering your plants.… Read More

Your Summer Solstice Resolution: Get Outside

| July 29, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing
Longer hours of daylight and warmer weather naturally draw us outside more to enjoy it. We’ve been telling you for years this is a GOOD thing (with hats and sunscreen handy). So I had to laugh just a little when I read the Wall Street Journal this week. In an article on its Career and Leadership page, it featured a “new trend” for the coronavirus age: finding ways to hold work meetings in person by – meeting outside. News flash! The article reports workplaces setting up meetings in all kinds of outdoor spaces like parks, beaches, or even in private yards where social distancing and masks allow people to meet safely and get away from their screens and Zoom.… Read More

Let Parks Plant the Seeds for Social Equity

| July 8, 2020 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Environment, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Everyone needs a safe place to play in nature, especially our kids. Photo: Pexels
When I first started writing this blog in 2013, one of the first topics I wrote about was the concept of biophilia, the study of the connection between human beings and nature.  I’m sure people thought the idea was a little “out there.” We have come a long way in thinking about how nature affects our well being in that time. I’m now giving thought to the social equity issues surrounding nature in these times. July is National Park and Recreation Month, an initiative of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). Park and recreation professionals promote a community’s health and well being through access to nature, green space, recreation, and fitness to create a lasting and positive impact on a community’s health and wellness.… Read More

Don’t Be A Buzz Kill! It’s National Pollinator Week

| June 24, 2020 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
We know you might be distracted by everything going on in the world, so give us a minute or two of your attention. The planet is counting on you. “National Pollinators Week” is officially here from June 22 – 28 and it’s worth taking just a few minutes to learn why it’s important to support pollinators and reverse a growing crisis for our planet. National Pollinators Week got started in 2006 through an official U.S. Senate resolution. That year, there was a mysterious loss of honey bee colonies in the United States. Pollinators are vital to 75 percent of the world’s food crops, from avocados to zucchini; and 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants.… Read More

Be Like Nature, My Friend

| June 1, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Environment, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
We have so much to learn from the resilience of Nature. Photo: Quinton Delman/Pixabay
Is 2020 over yet? The situation in our country and in our communities leaves me nearly speechless. It has been a rough year. First, the coronavirus hit. Second, the U.S. economy took a dive, causing unemployment so high it didn’t even seem real. Then, just as it seemed like we might get through the worse of the pandemic crisis, the senseless murder of an African-American man in Minneapolis set off a chain reaction across the U.S. of anger and hurt, including in my home town — specifically the city of La Mesa, California. Many people staged peaceful protests. Some senseless opportunists used the protests as cover to pillage innocent business owners and communities.… Read More

20 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2020 All Year Long

| April 22, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Fifty years ago, the first Earth Day took place in 1970. It is now an annual event celebrated on April 22, coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. It reaches more than 192 countries each year including hundreds of communities in the United States. Earth Day fell on Wednesday this week – but with everything going on in the world around us, you might have missed it. Earth Week 2020’s formal activities including San Diego’s free, all-volunteer Earth Fair at Balboa Park had to be postponed. The County of San Diego offers a virtual Earth Day online here. But Mother Earth is enjoying the celebration.… Read More