green building

Jim Mumford’s Thoughts on Union-Tribune News Coverage

| March 19, 2013 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Media Coverage
Last Monday, I was thrilled to see the article on the front page of the Business section of U-T San Diego about our living walls and green roofs, with a large photo of me (above the fold) standing in front of one of our own living walls. There’s nothing like seeing your own grinning mug in the paper before you’ve had coffee on a Monday morning.  A friend and colleague in Arizona had already posted it on Facebook! I am happy that both our company names are mentioned (Good Earth Plants and Greenscaped Buildings) and that in a section labeled “learn more” gave details about our open house and plant sale coming up April 19.… Read More

Want A Garden On Your Wall? U-T San Diego, March 10, 2013

| March 10, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Living Walls, Media Coverage
If you’re over the potted-plant look and have some tax money to spend on your home or business, one thing to consider is a wall garden or green roof. This special niche in the landscaping world remains relatively unknown but has in recent years attracted big-time clients like celeb chef Mario Batali, SDG&E and Fashion Valley Mall in Mission Valley, a major regional mall in Southern California. The firm that served those clients and many more is Good Earth Plants, which evolved from a downtown San Diego plant kiosk to a warehouse space in Kearny Mesa. It also birthed sister company Greenscaped Buildings.… Read More

Our New Aquaponics System

| March 7, 2013 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Gardening
When I saw the display of yellow daffodils at the grocery store the other day, I knew that winter was almost over and it was time for daylight savings and warmer days. That tells me that Spring is right around the corner. This spring, we are on an exciting journey to introduce new products to the Good Earth Plant and GreenScaped Buildings family.  Our new aquaponics project is starting small but we are hoping to be up to full-scale production soon. I met with Bill Toone, who runs a non-profit called ECOLIFE and was blown away by what he’s doing. Bill started his non-profit making rural stoves for those in Central Mexico whose health was suffering because of indoor cooking fires.… Read More

My TEDx Experience

| February 27, 2013 | Categories: Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Sustainable Living
Speaking with students is a prospect filled with questions: Will they be interested? Will I sound relevant? Is my topic “cool” enough? Is the word “cool” still “cool?” As I get older I find I look at youth and wonder if they go through the things I went through. Or have computers and social media changed us all so dramatically that it’s impossible for us to relate to each other? I was fortunate to be asked to speak at the TEDx Youth Conference last November and my 17 year old son Theodore attended the presentation. I had ten precious minutes to get everyone to think about plants and why they are important to us.  … Read More

Urban Heat Island Effect Bigger Than We Thought

| February 5, 2013 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Sustainable Living
Remember when the terms “Global Warming” and “Climate Change” were first mentioned? Now it’s commonplace. I just read how a research meteorologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is suggesting that big cities in North America and Asia may generate enough heat to warm areas  as far north as Canada and Siberia as much as 1.8 degrees. In general, the heat gathered from the urban heat island effect rises and travels upwards and its energy may change high-altitude currents in the atmosphere that dictate prevailing weather. Meteorologists have known that cities are warmer than rural areas with cars, buildings, asphalt and roofs that absorb heat.… Read More

GreenScaped Buildings Installs Living Wall at Fashion Valley – Mission Times Courier

| August 14, 2012 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Living Walls, Media Coverage
Shoppers enjoying their next trip to the popular Fashion Valley in San Diego will be greeted by a beautiful and unexpected sight, thanks to the installation of a cutting-edge “living wall” at the property this week. The first of its kind at a San Diego County retail property, living walls or green walls are structures that allow plant materials to grow on a building, but have the added benefit of allowing them to grow on vertical spaces indoors or outdoors. Both types of walls grow in “found space,” using far less space than typical gardens. Living walls can be planted with a wide variety of plants.… Read More

The Walls are Alive and Growing at the Mall

| July 30, 2012 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Living Walls
Good Earth Plants and Greenscaped Buildings Will Complete the Final Phases of the New Colorful, Living Wall at Fashion Valley Mall Next Week – By Jim Mumford, President and Green Guru, Good Earth Plants and Greenscaped Buildings Starting August 6, we will be building the new Green Wall at San Diego’s Fashion Valley Mall next to the new True Foods Restaurant and across the street from The Cheesecake Factory. I am thrilled to not only give the city of San Diego and the shoppers of Fashion Valley Mall something beautiful to look at, but also give all residents cleaner air to breath!… Read More

4 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Plantscaper

| July 16, 2012 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
What you don’t know can really cost you the green! No matter where you stand on the great outsource-insource debate, it is abundantly clear that most businesses in San Diego, don’t want to add interior plant design and plant maintenance to their list of in-house services—much less add it to the job description of an employee who may turn your greenery into compost! Some things are just better left to the professionals—especially those with a green thumb! But how do you know which professionals will give you the best green for your green? Good Earth Plants services many clients in San Diego and southern California who have shared their stories of plants gone wild, or more accurately, splash and dash companies masquerading as plantscaping companies.… Read More

Good Earth Plants and Greenscaped Buildings Fashion Valley Mall Project Gets Noticed

| June 25, 2012 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design, Living Walls, Media Coverage
We’re in the News! San Diego Business Journal details the project as part of the shopping center’s remodeling efforts Feel free to read the post here: ‘Living Wall’ Is Part of Fashion Valley Makeover Plans Or for your reading convenience; here is the full post featured on the San Diego Business Journal’s Website: ‘Living Wall’ Is Part of Fashion Valley Makeover Plans By LOU HIRSH Wednesday, June 20, 2012 Simon Property Group Inc. is installing a 46-foot-long, 16-foot-tall “living wall” feature at its Fashion Valley mall, to be covered with 4,000 ornamental plants, ferns, grasses and eight different types of ground coverings.… Read More