Biophilic Design

Can Green Roofs Save The World?

| October 19, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Green Roofs
We might be underdogs like Rocky when it comes to fighting climate change, but we need to get off the canvas and fight to win. Photo: Jim Mumford green roofs save
Picking up where it left off in 2019, the organization Green Roofs for Healthy Cities focused on resilient cities at its annual “Cities Alive” conference this week in Philadelphia. Nothing would stop me from making the trip east this year to learning from my colleagues about the latest green roof initiatives and building methods. I first discovered Green Roofs for Healthy Cities in 2006. I visited Manhattan for the opportunity to work for a day with Leslie Hoffman of Earth Pledge NYC. We had met earlier in San Diego at a People for Livable Places event. I became enthralled with green roofs, but I had no idea at the time how to build one or even what they really looked like.… Read More

Bringing Nature to The Brick Boutique Hotel in Oceanside

| September 14, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
The Coco Cabana lounge high above downtown Oceanside, California. Photo: Jim Mumford
Plants + Creativity Make For Stunning Hospitality Biophilic Design Oceanside, CA has evolved into a gorgeous destination for food, drinks and ocean views. Once known mostly for rowdy fun, with the addition of luxury boutique hotels and shopping, it’s stepping up its game. Good Earth Plant Co. was thrilled for the opportunity to partner with creative architectural design firm GTC Creative on biophilic design for one of these gorgeous new Oceanside boutique hotels – The Brick Hotel, including the Q&A Oyster Bay and rooftop bar and lounge Coco Cabana. Hospitality design incorporating plants, or biophilic design, has been a growing trend for the last 5 years.… Read More

Return To Work Incentive Bringing Employees Back

| September 7, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
return to work incentives
Labor Day 2022 is now behind us, the unofficial end of summer. Back to school and back to work for many Americans. I’m back from a late summer trip to Minneapolis to meet with my workplace greenery colleagues of the Silverado Roundtable, and I snuck in a family visit in Denver. I’m glad to be back at Good Earth Plant Company with many exciting new projects ahead this fall. Public service announcement: Need us to enrich people’ lives with plants at work or home? Contact us now! But back to work means something different after the coronavirus pandemic. It doesn’t necessarily mean going back to the office environment.… Read More

Fig Tree Café Gets A Plant-Filled Makeover

| August 9, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Good Earth Plant Company enjoyed giving the original Fig Tree Cafe in Pacific Beach a well deserved refresh. Photo: Jim Mumford Good Earth Plant Company
We love working with new clients at Good Earth Plant Company. When Rise & Shine Hospitality Group Chief Operating Officer Cesar Garcia needed to remodel the original Pacific Beach location of Fig Tree Café, he started the same place most of us do: Google. Good Earth Plant Company is so glad he did! If you aren’t familiar with Fig Tree Café, it opened its first location in Pacific Beach in 2008 with a simple mission rooted in the creation of an inviting and genuine dining experience. Since then, CEO and founder Johan Engman opened in Liberty Station in 2013, and recently in East Village.… Read More

Top Trends at Cultivate 22: Color and Creativity

| July 20, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
This three dimentional "grotto wall" using moss and living plants was my favorite display at Cultivate 22. I can't wait to build one myself! Photo: Jim Mumford
We’ve just wrapped up one of my favorite workplace greenery and horticulture conferences – the annual Cultivate 22 held in Columbus, Ohio, by American Hort, our national organization supporting and promoting the horticulture industry. We were back last year post-pandemic, but we were all still feeling the many effects of what we’d all gone through. This year, the energy, collaboration, and creativity were truly back. I could tell immediately from the bright-colored plant and floral displays in downtown Columbus. They were missing last year. More than 650 exhibitors and 10,000 industry professionals like me attend this show to see all the latest products and plants and talk with colleagues to share and learn about the latest trends and solutions for our clients.… Read More

Go Green To Recruit Tech Talent

| June 22, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Our first moss wall project in 2022 for one of the GAMAM companies. Photo: Good Earth Plant Company sustainability must
Before the pandemic, technology employees loved their free meals, foosball, and office happy hour. Post-pandemic, it’s going to take more than booze to bring tech workers back into the office. Good Earth Plant Company has a hot tip for tech employers: Go green at work. Many of the big tech companies including the Big Five known as GAMAM (Google, Apple, Meta [Facebook], Amazon, and Microsoft) or FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) announced they would bring back their workers into the office. Their employees said, “Umm, not so fast.” Recent surveys found nearly three-quarters of tech employees plan to quit their jobs this year in part because of lack of flexibility with the post-pandemic return to the office push and toxic workplace culture.… Read More

Even Black Thumbs Can Grow Orchids

| May 18, 2022 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Yes, you can grow orchids! Good Earth Plant Company tells you our secrets to grow orchids. Photo: Pixabayv
During the pandemic, many people learned about the benefits of adding plants to your indoor environment at home and work. This isn’t a news flash for our regular readers. Study after study confirms plants help clean your indoor air of toxins, raise the humidity to healthier levels, contribute to an increase in oxygen levels, buffer noise, calm your nerves and help you focus. We’ll stop there. Good Earth Plant Company works with many clients who like fresh cut flowers in addition to green indoor plants in their workspaces. Who isn’t impressed by a gorgeous display of flowers in a lobby or meeting room?… Read More

New Thoughts for 2022 About The Nature of the Post-Pandemic Workplace

| March 23, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Where would YOU rathr work? Our Second Edition white paper is optimistic about the future of the American office. Download your copy free! Post-pandemic workplace
The modern American office is now competing with the work from home (WFH) environment. Employees are voting with their feet for more flexibility in their lives. The days of the open office and cubicle farms are over. How should the workplace evolve? It was time for my colleagues and me with Silverado Roundtable to dig deep to offer human resources professionals, facilities managers, and the design community some tools to address the post-pandemic reality. We present The Nature of the Post-Pandemic Workplace – Second Edition. I never thought I’d write ONE white paper. Now I’ve written two! How did we get here?… Read More

Pantone 2022 Color of the Year Is Very Peri

| January 5, 2022 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design
Feeling Very Peri! It's the 2022 Pantone Color of the Year. Photo: Jim Mumford
At Good Earth Plant Company, we look forward to the annual announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year. It’s true! And we know you do, too. We get a massive response when our review and critique of the annual announcement is posted. Everyone has an opinion about color. Every color creates different emotions and gives us all the feels: happy, sad, excited, calm, even hungry or relaxed. Our reactions have roots in psychological effects, biological conditioning, and cultural imprinting. Color is also tied to memory. Color helps the brain store and process images more efficiently than black or white. We remember colorful images better.… Read More

Your Top Questions About Biophilic Design Answered

| November 17, 2021 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants
v
The coronavirus pandemic made us more aware of creating healthier indoor spaces, especially in the workplace. Employers are starting to pay attention. “The Great Resignation” has fired up their interest in making workplaces safe and inviting. I’ve read the words “biophilia” and “biophilic design” in the news and on websites more than ever before in the last 18 months. It’s mentioned in articles like this one, and this one, and even this one. Good Earth Plant Company does its part by enriching peoples’ lives with plants and using our award-winning blog to inform our readers about the principles of biophilia and biophilic design.… Read More