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.

 

Time to Let It Shine

| December 17, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
When you live in San Diego, you've got plenty of sunshine during the shorter winter days to enjoy for good health. Photo: Monica Volpin, Pixabay
Are you feeling a little blue? You might be tempted to blame it on the hectic nature of the holidays, or seeing too much political talk on TV or social media. But it might not be the only reason you aren’t your usual cheerful self. Several weeks ago, 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 this Saturday, December 21.… Read More

Turn Black Friday into Green Friday This Year

| November 20, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
#OptOutside Good Earth Plant Company Thanksgiving Sustainability Living Walls Plants
For five years in a row now, REI has closed its stores on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. It processes no online sales and it paid all its 12,000 employees to spend the day outside with friends and family. How big is Black Friday? It is routinely one of the largest U.S. shopping days, both in stores and online. Adobe Digital Insights Inc. estimates that the single day in 2018 brought in $6.2 billion in online sales in the U.S. We’re completely into the #OptOutside concept at Good Earth Plant Company – we caught on in year number two and told you about it back then.… Read More

Go Green This Halloween – Recycle Your Pumpkins

| October 31, 2019 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Don't be an environmental meanie after Halloween: recycle your pumpkins. Photo: Arnica Backstrom / Pixabay
It’s Halloween today, and 180 million Americans of all ages plan to take part in some kind of festivities today. We’re all about it at Good Earth Plant Company, because so much of Halloween connects with nature. Around this time of year, the seasons are making the transition from the last summer harvest to the cooler, darker days of fall and winter. We make the fall time change this Sunday, November 2. Irish immigrants brought their beliefs about nature to the United States. They explained the natural processes they saw happening during the seasons on magical spirits. It’s not surprising when you think about pre-industrial people trying to make sense of the world without sophisticated science.… Read More

Not Your Garden Variety Session at San Diego Green Week’s 2019 Conference & Expo

| October 10, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Environment, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Jim Mumford will participate in a panel discussion as part of the San Diego Green Building Council's Conference & Expo Oct. 18. Info and registration: http://www.sd-gbc.org
Good Earth Plant Company’s Jim Mumford featured on panel discussion planting seeds about the benefits of incorporating nature into building projects. SAN DIEGO, Calif. (October 10, 2019) – Dozens of studies demonstrate the benefits of incorporating nature into building design to human health and wellness, but doing so is still often seen as a luxury. Jim Mumford has spent more than 40 years working to change this perception. As part of the San Diego Green Building Council’s (SDGBC) 2019 Conference & Expo on Friday, Oct. 18, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Good Earth Plant Company owner and founder Jim Mumford, CLP, GRP, will join Calina Ferraro, PE, CPD, LEED AP, WELL Accredited Professional, Principal, Integral Group Design Studio; and Jennifer Montgomery, PLA, SITES AP, LEED AP, Asociate, Schmidt Design Group for “Not Your Garden Variety Design: Optimizing Building Integrated Vegetation.”… Read More

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