Biophilic Design

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
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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

Take A Virtual Tour of the Good Earth Plant Company’s New Biophilic Warehouse

| November 3, 2021 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company
Take a virtual tour of our brand new biophilic warehouse at Good Earth Plant Company.
After more than four decades, Good Earth Plant Company has a brand new 2,000 square foot working warehouse and workshop facility. It’s been on our wish list since we moved to our Kearny Mesa property in 1994. When I bought the property 18 years ago, there was a large, three-sided mechanic’s shed. It was torn down in 2007. Since that time, we used the old concrete floor as a large patio and created a “living lab” with examples of living walls. This is where the new warehouse sits.  We relocated our living walls and they continue to thrive. We’ll give you a tour in a future blog post.… Read More

Taking Nature On The Road Again – Trade Shows Are Back

| October 14, 2021 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
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One more positive sign we are turning the corner from the coronavirus pandemic: Trade shows are back! In the past month, Good Earth Plant Company set up a display booth at several trade shows. First, we participated in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) San Diego event. Next, we set up at the International Facilities Manager Association (IFMA) and Building Owners and Manager Association (BOMA) joint San Diego Chapter trade show. Our Business Development expert Dan Summers joined me here. We also partnered with our clients and colleagues GMBi and BKM at the International Interior Design Association show. We didn’t have a booth ourselves, but we did attend and enjoyed the interaction. … Read More

Pay Attention To The Power of Plants at Work

| October 6, 2021 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
We’ve learned some hard lessons thanks to the coronavirus pandemic about how much our health and wellbeing is governed by our environment inside our homes, workplaces, schools, public facilities, and other buildings like stores and movie theaters. Anything we can do to improve the quality of our indoor environment needs to be a priority. Our surroundings make such a difference in our health because people in industrialized countries including the U.S. spend more than 90% of their time indoors. It makes me even more relentless about the work we do at Good Earth Plant Company to improve indoor environments by enriching peoples’ lives with plants, by promoting biophilic design and the WELL Building Standard, and by talking about this with you – and as many other people I can get to pay attention!… Read More

Time to Celebrate: It’s National Indoor Plant Week

| September 10, 2021 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
She's got the right attitude for National Indoor Plant Week 2021! Photo: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels
Plant lovers everywhere, get ready to party – the week of  September 20, 2021, is National Indoor Plant Week. We’re giving you advanced notice! It is celebrated the third full week of September every year. I get it, there are a whole lot of these observations. One website claims there are 1,500 of them – that’s a LOT for 365 days and 52 weeks. During the same week, it’s also National Singles Week, National Farm Animals Week, and National Eczema Week. Your indoor plants deserve a celebration. All they want to do is grow and keep you happier and healthier. They don’t judge you and they don’t have to worry about social distancing either (how lucky!).… Read More

Client Happiness and Health Always Wins Big

| July 19, 2021 | Categories: Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company, Living Walls, Plantscaping
Good Earth Plant Company got a nice surprise this week: our living wall project at 655 W. Broadway has won a Silver Award in its category in the 2021 Biophilic Design Awards. We love seeing our client projects featured, and we love seeing everyone else’s work. Awards make us feel great, but what’s more important about them is providing an objective measurement of the quality of our projects. Are we doing the best possible work we can for our clients? Where do we rate against our (mostly friendly) competitors? What can we learn from THEIR award-winning projects? This project has a special place in our horticultural hearts.… Read More

Making Magic With Moss Walls

| May 12, 2021 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Moss Walls, Plantscaping
In case you haven’t figured it out, we love plants at Good Earth Plant Company. From our very first days selling “potted” plants and flowers, it’s been our mission to enrich peoples’ lives with plants. Over the years, we’ve gone big with plants in the form of green roofs and living walls. Living walls have been some of our all-time favorite projects. We’ve put them in restaurants, hotels, malls, schools, and quite a few private homes. They challenge us to be creative and customize each project to meet our client’s needs. But living walls need the right conditions, whether indoors or outdoors, to thrive.… Read More

Our Favorite Holiday Is Here! Celebrate Biophilia on St. Patrick’s Day with Good Earth Plant Company

| March 16, 2021 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Gardening, Nature and Wellbeing
Our friend Stumpy, who lives in Jim Mumford's yard, is excited to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Photo: Jim Mumford
Most people say their favorite holiday is Christmas. Thanksgiving comes next, but Halloween has nearly caught up. Our favorite holiday didn’t even make the list! We’re here to celebrate OUR favorite holiday at Good Earth Plant Company. You don’t have to be Irish (or part Irish like me) to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. Think St. Patrick’s Day is all about cheers, beers, and parties? Think again! St. Patrick’s Day celebrates Nature. It’s the original Biophilic Holiday. We’ll explain. St. Patrick’s Day History  You may have Irish heritage like me, as many Americans do. Ireland has a long history of emigration.… Read More