Sustainable Living

Consumers want to buy products and services from companies taking a stand on saving the planet in pursuit of sustainable living. A 2019 study of consumers found 83% of Americans are concerned about the environmental impact of products they buy and say it’s important for companies to design more environmentally friendly products.

We do our best to be honest about the hard choices we sometimes must make as a business. Good Earth Plant Company works with Nature in the form of plants daily. We struggle to be good stewards and encourage sustainable living with every decision.

Good Earth Plant Company partners with Mother Nature to help companies reach their own sustainability goals. We can reduce and regulate indoor temperatures by adding plants in containers, living walls, and green roofs to urban environments. This reduces the need for heating and cooling and can make it more efficient. Plants create biodiversity, help curb the urban heat island effect, and filter harmful particulate matter from the air and from stormwater before it reaches storm drains.

We encourage more people to ask questions about sustainable practices. Companies must demonstrate long-term responsibility toward their customers, suppliers, communities, and the environment. Where are they getting their supplies? What are they doing to reduce their carbon footprint? Are they making the everyday small changes necessary to reverse decades of abusing our environment?

Join the Good Earth Plant Company Eco-Warrior team

Not everyone can install a green roof. But everyone can do more to reduce their energy use, use less water, and contribute to a healthier planet.

Wendy’s Gets What Green Means

Katelyn Hutchings in her green office at Good Earth Plant Company with over 200 plants.
You may be thinking, “Why is Good Earth Plants discussing a Wendy’s restaurant commercial? Don’t we get enough commercials in our lives!” I realize this is not like our typical posts, but Wendy’s is on to something we’ve talked about for a long time. In the new Wendy’s commercial for its “Summer in a bowl” salad, two women are eating the salads in their office. While they eat, the office begins to transform into a beautiful, green outdoor atmosphere. They love it! Wouldn’t you love to see your office turn inside out? See the commercial here: When you have plants in your office, the air quality improves. … Read More

Good Earth Plants has the Prescription for Sick Building Syndrome

It's not rocket science, really: humble plants like this Pothos can improve worker productivity. Photo: Julien Gong Min
Many of us know what it’s like to work in an office in a city like San Diego. According to a study by global architecture firm HOK as reported in The Guardian newspaper, people in cities spend 90 percent of their time in artificial environments. A newly defined phenomenon in these work environments is referred to as Sick Building Syndrome.  The National Safety Council describes Sick Building Syndrome as a situation where individuals experience acute health effects linked to being inside a building. These symptoms include headaches; eye, nose, and throat irritation; a dry cough; dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea; difficulty in concentrating; fatigue; and sensitivity to odors.… Read More

Living Architecture: Beyond the Eye

GreenScaped Buildings designed and installed this living wall for The Irvine Company, an excellent example of "Nature In The Space."
There are so many benefits of living walls and green roofs, but you don’t have to take our word for it. The Summer 2014 issue of Living Architecture Monitor magazine features businesses which have recently installed living architecture discussing the improvements in the health and well-being of employees, as well as a positive side effect: increased property values. GreenScaped Buildings client Irvine Company Office Properties is included in the article, “How Green Roofs & Walls Have Impacted Building Occupants’ Well-Being,” Irvine Company manager Sherry Mashadian explains, “The living wall is definitely one of the greater features to the building and added value to the project.… Read More

Changed by Fire: Thriving After Disaster

Scenes from the Cocos fire. Courtesy NBC 7
Introduction: This blog post is not the normal bits of advice or inspiration about green building, plantscaping, or living walls. After the events of this week in San Diego and an unusually early start to what appears to be a long, hot summer and wildfire season to come, I couldn’t help but think about my own experiences surviving – and even thriving – after a wildfire. I wrote a lengthy journal entry about my experiences with a wildfire in 2003, when my own home was burned to the ground in the Cedar Fire. While many things were destroyed – including my marriage – new life literally did grow from the ashes, taking me in a direction I never could have imagined.… Read More

Cleaning the Polluted Air: Easy as Planting a Tree

If we don't address our pollution issues and clean our air NOW, we could all end up living under a dome.
Life provides too many distractions: phone calls, emails and everything on Facebook. When time allows my thoughts to wander beyond my little world, many times it rests upon how we can improve the environment or at the least, reduces our negative impact on it. Almost always, plants find their way into my ideas for helping the situation in one way or another. The recent wildfires in San Diego County brought clouds of black smoke, ash and the loss of primarily native vegetation in undeveloped areas. Our first responders are working hard to contain the danger, but not without the loss of trees and habitat.… Read More

Find Outdoor Adventure In Your Own Backyard

When we were young, finding new worlds to explore was easy. Just go out back into the canyons or woods, turn over some rocks, climb a few trees or visit the San Diego Zoo. Finding adventure as an adult is harder. Endless demands eat into precious daytime hours, leaving playtime lost to “more important” matters. When I read about a true modern-day adventurer I find myself green with envy. Take Dr. Marc Meyers of UCSD. This lucky guy is getting ready to head out on an adventure of a lifetime, one that nearly killed Teddy Roosevelt a century ago. Imagine a 1,500-mile expedition to South America traveling up the Amazon River studying the flora, fauna and the indigenous tribes you meet along the way.… Read More

Jim Mumford’s Tree Benefits You Never Knew

My time spent growing up in San Diego in the 1960s and 70s was pretty close to perfect. There were always a gang of guys around for fun and adventure and the canyon behind my home provided the perfect giant trees for climbing, fort-building and tire-swinging. The canyon’s trees acted as sturdy protectors of my childhood and I never dreamed that someday those same trees might be endangered. Trees provide a multitude of benefits. Things you would never even think about. Did you know trees can help reduce violence? Neighborhoods and homes that lack trees have a higher rate of violence in and out of the home than their greener counterparts.… Read More

America’s Founding Farmers Planted a Nation

Mt. Vernon Gardens, George Washington
When Presidents Day rolls around, I always think about what it must have been like to have lived in the late 1700s. Seeing painted portraits of Washington and Jefferson with their long hair and ruffled shirts makes me believe they were way ahead of their time. We learned what we needed to know in sixth grade so that we could write a report on Jefferson. There was the bad rumor about Washington’s dental issues. But what else do we know about these brilliant men? This we DO know: our Founding Fathers were dedicated cultivators of the earth. They planted gardens, had animated discussions on the correct recipe for compost and thought about the future of the earth they would leave behind.… Read More

Go Green for Valentine’s Day

It’s that time again. The drugstore aisles are overflowing with shades of pink and red and the Hallmark people are planning how to spend their first quarter bonus. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow! Don’t get me wrong. Now that I don’t deal on the retail side of the holiday, I’m good with buying cards and flowers and chocolate hearts. It’s a happy time, even if it started off as a rather morbid holiday. Some historians tell the tale of a man named Valentin who helped Christians escape harsh prisons. While imprisoned for his acts by the Romans, Valentin fell in love with the jailer’s daughter.… Read More

See Jim Mumford and Good Earth Plant Company tonight on KPBS-TV

Jim Mumford and Nan Sterman, KPBS TV
See Jim Mumford of Good Earth Plants on “A Growing Passion” tonight on KPBS  Thursday, February 6, 8:30 p.m. KPBS Channel 15 Cox Cable 1011 HD Time Warner Cable 711 HD Green roofs were once a novelty.  No more! Today, they are gaining popularity thanks to their ability to capture runoff and keep it from polluting beaches and bays, to moderate temperatures inside the buildings they top, reduce atmospheric heating, and offer a beautiful, interesting, even healing alternative to an expanse of glaring, bare rooftop. Nan Sterman, host of “A Growing Passion” on KPBS-TV, visits green roofs large and small across San Diego County including a few of Jim Mumford’s favorites created by Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings for our clients.… Read More