Sustainable Living
Living walls are springing up around the world as more people recognize the importance of incorporating nature into our everyday urban world. At Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings, we couldn’t be happier to see this trend.
One of our Good Earth Plant Company employees recently took a trip to Shanghai, China as part of a course at San Diego State University. While there she saw many examples of living walls and other ways China’s largest city found ways to bring nature closer to the people living there.
Here are some of my favorite examples of amazing living walls around the world.… Read More
Resolve to Get Connected in 2015
Happy New Year! Can you believe we are 15 years into a new century?
I’m getting inspired at the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE) in Florida, one of our hottest trade shows and conferences, literally. This group knows its audience well. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance in most of the U.S. to attend a trade show located in sunny south Florida in January? Back home they would be shoveling snow and only dreaming of the warm weather ahead.
I’m motivated by the opportunity to meet and learn from other like-minded people, including a meeting with members of the nonprofit group Green Plants for Green Buildings.… Read More
Resolve to Recycle More Than Just Your Christmas Tree
With the holidays in the rear view mirror, you should have your previously living cut Christmas tree down by now and out of the house. But the job isn’t finished until you make sure to recycle the tree.
The easiest thing to do for most households in San Diego is to put it out for collection with your regular greenery pickup. If you don’t have greenery pickup, there are 16 drop-off locations available. The City of San Diego will accept your tree through January 23 by either method. After January 23, the Miramar Landfill Greenery will take it year-round, along with any other vegetation for recycling.… Read More
Holiday Plants: Poinsettias, Mistletoe, Holly – History & Traditions
Have you ever wondered why we kiss under the mistletoe, or why you see poinsettias everywhere during the winter holidays? Not only do these plants fit the color scheme of the holidays but they have traditional meanings you might not know about. Poinsettias, mistletoe, and holly (oh my!) all have symbolic significance behind their holiday appearances.
Poinsettias
The association between poinsettias and Christmas is said to come from a Mexican legend. A child who had little to bring to the church for Christmas picked some weeds from the side of the road. He placed the weeds on the church altar on Christmas Eve.… 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
Giving Thanks at Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings
It is Thanksgiving 2014, and I’m thankful for many people in my life.
I’m thankful for:
My folks, they set a good standard and give me plenty to both admire and laugh about. Not that they’re perfect, don’t go getting ideas Mom and Dad.
My son Ted: just enough of me to make me proud, just enough “other” to make him interesting.
My daughter Allie: smart, capable and talented – getting ready to launch herself on the world. I hope we’re ready.
My sister Monica, who has been with me since the beginning and is a huge help today.
The rest of my family.… 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
Going Gray(Water) The Safe Way
In a previous blog post, Good Earth Plant Company shared some of our best tips on how to conserve water while keeping your plants healthy. Landscape irrigation has the highest use of water in the average household. Watering your plants efficiently is a great start to reach the goal to reduce our water use by 20% by 2020. However, this alone is not enough.
Good Earth Plants can help you take the next step to effectively conserve water by using gray water systems. Gray water systems are used to recycle water already used once in your shower and laundry water for the purpose of watering your garden.… Read More
Mondays Not the Issue: Work May Make You Sick
Plenty of people joke that going to work makes them sick. But if you’re in a building with poor air quality, it’s not a joke. Work really IS making you sick.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that up to 30 percent of new and remodeled buildings have indoor air quality problems. There are plenty of reasons: poor building design, the activities going on inside like manufacturing processes, for example, poorly maintained heating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, harsh cleaners or pesticides, or indoor airborne contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
VOCs are carbon-containing chemicals that can vaporize into the air inside a building, where occupants (like you) breathe them in.… Read More
Tips for Saving Water Without Killing Your Plants
“Oh man, do we need it!” This is the sentence muttered by every San Diegan when discussing the topic of rain. This is California’s third consecutive dry year, and things are not looking bright for the future.
We wrote about this issue in January, and here we are again because the conditions have yet to improve.
In 2010, California put in a place a goal to have residents cut their water use by 20 percent by 2020. Many of you may be wondering, ‘How will I do this and not let all my plants die in the process?’ Good Earth Plant Company has four water saving tips for plant lovers.… Read More