Nature and Wellbeing

We’ve dedicated more than four decades in the plant and flower business to nature and wellbeing. Our mission is enriching peoples’ lives with plants. Good Earth Plant Company has a greater appreciation for our wellbeing as we all do since the pandemic.

How do we improve the quality of our workplaces, our homes, and all the other indoor spaces where we spend the majority of our time? Can we clean the air? Remove toxins? Add oxygen and make ourselves healthier, happier, and more productive? Yes!

If we are not going to spend more time outside in nature, we have to bring nature INSIDE. We have to recreate living in nature the best way we can.

Ever wonder why you seem to have trouble concentrating on anything, or feel down more than seems normal? You may be suffering from a lack of Vitamin N (that’s “Nature”). You are feeling the lack of connection to nature and wellbeing, which we now study as biophilia, the innate tendency of human beings to find their place and their relationship with the natural world. People suffer from their lack of biophilic connection when they’re shut inside all day and night.

Adding plants to your indoor environment along with natural light and fresh air can go a long way toward improving your quality of life through the combination of nature and wellbeing.

 

Next Generation of Eco-Warriors Leads the Way

| October 9, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Environment, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
The next generation of Eco-Warriors paid a visit to Good Earth Plant Company.
Recently, a group of fifth grade students from a San Diego area private school visited Good Earth Plant Company as part of their after school program, the extra-curricular “Lego Robotics Club.” Kids in the club were tasked with identifying a local problem in their city, and then exploring possible solutions. The students decided to focus on the diminishing tree canopy within the city. This is something we’ve also been concerned about, and have written about here on the Good Earth blog. According to the team’s adult leader, Noel Kim, the team is competing for the first time in the “First Lego League” (FLL) Robotics Competition.… Read More

Good Day Sunshine! Jump Start Your Day Naturally

| October 2, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Hit the snooze button? Brush your teeth? Get some coffee? Check social media? Go to the gym? A survey conducted by the consulting firm Deloitte isn’t much of a surprise.  Forty-three percent of people check their phone within five minutes of waking up. Seventeen percent check immediately, some even before they get out of bed. In a study of morning rituals by management expert Laura Vanderkam and Inc. Magazine, successful people start their day with water instead of coffee, exercise, work on either a priority business project or spend time on a personal passion project, spend time with family, meditate – and one-third say they make their beds every day.… Read More

Survey Says: The Younger Generation Digs Gardening

| September 25, 2019 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Gardening, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Surrounded by some of my 50 plants at home! Jim Mumford Good Earth Plant Company houseplants indoor plants
When you think about gardening, do you picture your grandmother tending her rose garden? Maybe a retired neighbor mowing his lush lawn? According to the National Gardening Survey, the typical gardener and plant enthusiast is much younger and isn’t living in the suburbs. In the 2019 version of this annual survey presented every year at the American Horticulture Association’s Cultivate conference (which I attend every single year), 38 percent of adults age 18 to 34 plan to spend more on lawn and garden activities in 2019, compared to the overall average of 29 percent for all age groups. Yes, plants are trending and cool and we could not be happier at Good Earth Plant Company!… Read More

Best House Plants For Small Spaces

| September 4, 2019 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Even in minimal living space, you csn always find room for plants. Photo: MiliVanily/Pixabay
Have you ever watched the show on HGTV called “Tiny House Hunters?” Episodes follow homebuyers who want to seriously downsize. By definition, a small house is around 500 square feet. A tiny house is from 100 to 400 square feet. It’s hard to get solid numbers, but most groups agree there are about 10,000 of these tiny houses in the U.S. This isn’t a whole lot different than an average RV. According to the RV Industry Association, one million Americans live full time in an RV. New York City apartments have a reputation for being small, but the average studio apartment is 550 square feet.… Read More

Good Earth Plant Company’s Summer Reading List – Naturally!

| August 14, 2019 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Summer is the perfect time to read a new nature book and get inspired. Photo: Erika Wittlieb / Pixabay
Science shows us getting out and enjoying the benefits of nature will make us healthier. Reading about nature isn’t a bad idea either. How about reading a book about nature at your favorite outdoor spot? Maybe it’s the beach; maybe it’s the park. Maybe it’s a hammock in your backyard. It doesn’t matter. And we just happen to have some of our favorite nature books for you here to enjoy this summer.  Choose any of them, and then choose your favorite spot. Your Guide to Forest Bathing Amos Clifford Amos Clifford is the founder of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs.… Read More

Our Top Ten Best Plant and Nature Apps

| July 31, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing
Back when kids like me didn’t have smartphones, we used BOOKS to learn about nature. If you wanted help identifying plants or birds or animals, you used books called “field guides” to take with you to help figure out whether you were looking at a sparrow or a warbler. If you wanted to figure out where a trail would go, you used a paper map. You better not tear it, or get it wet! But now, technology has put this kind of knowledge in the palm of our hands – as long as your power doesn’t wear out and your wifi is working.… Read More

Get The Picture About Biophilic Design

| July 25, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Biophilic design is a trend transforming modern workplaces. Infographic: NewPro Containers and Green Plants for Green Buildings
Are you not entertained? We try to use the Good Earth Plant Company blog to provide information and educate people about plants, and do it in an entertaining way. Last week at the Society of Professional Journalists San Diego Chapter annual Journalism Awards, the Good Earth Plant Company blog was named the Best Digital Blog in San Diego County! Thank you SPJSD. You like us, you really like us! But we also recognize different people have different preferred ways of learning and absorbing information. Depending on which theory you prefer, there are either seven learning styles, or four. The VARK theory counts four: Visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic (learning by doing).… Read More

The Best Sandwich I Ever Ate

| July 11, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing
With the Bavarian Alps as your view, it's hard not to enjoy a picnic! Photo: Jim Mumford
Many people think the start of summer is Memorial Day weekend. The ‘official’ start to summer is the day of the Summer Solstice, June 20. For others, it doesn’t really feel like summer until the Fourth of July weekend. Whatever you think, summer is now in full swing. Summer means getting outdoors. Even though we have beautiful weather all year in San Diego compared to the rest of the U.S., the longer days and the relaxed attitude combine to draw us outside for more activities. One of those is cooking. Even someone with limited kitchen skills can turn out a great meal on a barbecue grill.  … Read More

Noise Pollution Is The New Smoking

| June 27, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Moss Walls, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Workplace hell: An office like this is a nightmare of noise pollution and distractions.
Do you know what a decibel is? You probably have a general idea it measures sound. A decibel measures the intensity of sound. It is similar to measurements we use for earthquakes – each decibel multiplies the last one. This is because the human ear can pick up an amazing range of sound. Start with silence at zero decibels or dB. A whisper is 15 dB. A normal conversation (normal, not YELLING) is 60 dB. A lawnmower is 90 dB. A car horn is 110 dB – but thank goodness you’re usually not standing right next to it. A firecracker is 140 dB.… Read More

Here Come Summer – Time to Get Out!

| June 20, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing
It's officially Summer 2019 - and Nature is calling you! Photo: Darius Garza / Pixabay Good Earth Plant Company
Ready or not, here comes summer! More precisely, the summer solstice. The solstice takes place at a precise point in time. This year it will be Friday morning, June 21, exactly at 8:54 a.m. PT according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. People usually refer to the entire day when this happens as the “Summer Solstice.”  You could go to Stonehenge to visually experience the Solstice or closer – visit our client, the  Salk Institute in La Jolla.  This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning it has the most hours of sunlight and the shortest night.… Read More