Jim Mumford

Mondays Not the Issue: Work May Make You Sick

| August 7, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
What if Peter's "case of the Mondays" was caused by working in a sick building? Photo credit: "Office Space," 20th Century Fox, 1999
Plenty of people joke that going to work makes them sick. But if you’re in a building with poor air quality, it’s not a joke. Work really IS making you sick. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that up to 30 percent of new and remodeled buildings have indoor air quality problems. There are plenty of reasons: poor building design, the activities going on inside like manufacturing processes, for example, poorly maintained heating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, harsh cleaners or pesticides, or indoor airborne contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are carbon-containing chemicals that can vaporize into the air inside a building, where occupants (like you) breathe them in.… Read More

Tips for Saving Water Without Killing Your Plants

| July 31, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Sustainable Living, Water and Water Conservation
The living wall at SDG&E's Energy Innovation Center is filled with drought tolerant plants.
“Oh man, do we need it!” This is the sentence muttered by every San Diegan when discussing the topic of rain. This is California’s third consecutive dry year, and things are not looking bright for the future. We wrote about this issue in January, and here we are again because the conditions have yet to improve. In 2010, California put in a place a goal to have residents cut their water use by 20 percent by 2020. Many of you may be wondering, ‘How will I do this and not let all my plants die in the process?’ Good Earth Plant Company has four water saving tips for plant lovers.… Read More

Planting Seeds at ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer

| July 24, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Plenty of seeds were planted at the ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer at Good Earth Plants.
It’s hard to say who enjoyed our recent Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings Living Architecture Mixer for ASLA San Diego: the hosts, or the attendees. It’s fair to say everyone had a great time. We welcomed 80 attendees including Landscape Architects, Architects, and Interior Designers. Food was eaten, drinks were had, and knowledge was shared. Many professionals viewed, touched, and experienced our dozens of Living Wall and Green Roof demos in our Good Earth Plant Company Living Lab. Even our bar had a green roof. Our rooftop irrigation system turned while our attendees were viewing our original green roof on the GEP HQ building.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Leaflet July 2014 Newsletter Includes Graphic Humor

| July 17, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company, Newsletters
Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet Newsletter
Click here to read the July 2014 edition of the Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet newsletter. Highlights this issue include: Read about our latest activities in the President’s Letter Check out our creative curved living wall project built at a client’s home as a birthday present for his wife Your office could look like this office, and you wouldn’t dread Mondays so much Horticultural Humor goes graphic this month Get our newsletter delivered right to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter email list. Visit the home page of our website and scroll to the end of the page to provide us your email address.

Challenge Plus Creativity = One Beautiful Birthday Present, A Living Wall

| July 15, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Living Walls
Sometimes square pegs fit in round holes: a living wall on a curved surface.
Nobody loves a challenge more than GreenScaped Buildings. A potential client who had seen the stunning installation at Spring Hill Suites in Oceanside tracked us down at the end of May, and called us in to look at his proposed project. He wanted to surprise his wife for her birthday and give her a 112 square foot living wall at the front entry of their house. How’s that for a unique and spectacular present? We loved the idea. He was set on the style of the wall being succulents in a tight pattern. Here is what the original wall looks like as a reminder: This raised two huge challenges: 1) How to overcome his three week lead time: First, the manufacturer’s lead time to get us the wall materials is four weeks.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Hosts ASLA Living Architecture Mixer on Thursday, July 17

| July 14, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Living Walls
Join us on July 17 for the ALSA mixer at Good Earth Plant Company.
Are you a landscape designer or architect? Are you an interior designer or a space planner? Do things like sustainability, energy reduction and storm water retention excite you? Would you like to learn how living walls and green roofs can benefit your work? Then Thursday, July 17 is your lucky day! Good Earth Plant Company and our sister company Greenscaped Buildings will host an open house and mixer for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) on Thursday, July 17, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Good Earth Plants has specialized in containerized “plantscapes” (anything in a pot or planter) with award winning service and design since 1977.… Read More

The Top Ten Plants for Cleaning Your Air

| June 30, 2014 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
The sturdy Golden Pothos makes our Top Ten list. Photo: Elvis Ripley, Flickr
If you read our blog regularly (and we hope you are!), you know Good Earth Plants is always looking for new ways plants can benefit you. One of the most important ways is to keep the air in your interior environment at work and home cleaner. Plants work their magic in part by absorbing toxins into their leaves. When plants scrub these toxins out of the air by processing them through photosynthesis, you don’t process them by breathing them into your lungs. There isn’t another indoor environment with more concern about keeping its air clean than a space ship, space shuttle, or space station.… Read More

Wendy’s Gets What Green Means

| June 19, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
Katelyn Hutchings in her green office at Good Earth Plant Company with over 200 plants.
You may be thinking, “Why is Good Earth Plants discussing a Wendy’s restaurant commercial? Don’t we get enough commercials in our lives!” I realize this is not like our typical posts, but Wendy’s is on to something we’ve talked about for a long time. In the new Wendy’s commercial for its “Summer in a bowl” salad, two women are eating the salads in their office. While they eat, the office begins to transform into a beautiful, green outdoor atmosphere. They love it! Wouldn’t you love to see your office turn inside out? See the commercial here: When you have plants in your office, the air quality improves. … Read More

Good Earth Plants has the Prescription for Sick Building Syndrome

| June 12, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
It's not rocket science, really: humble plants like this Pothos can improve worker productivity. Photo: Julien Gong Min
Many of us know what it’s like to work in an office in a city like San Diego. According to a study by global architecture firm HOK as reported in The Guardian newspaper, people in cities spend 90 percent of their time in artificial environments. A newly defined phenomenon in these work environments is referred to as Sick Building Syndrome.  The National Safety Council describes Sick Building Syndrome as a situation where individuals experience acute health effects linked to being inside a building. These symptoms include headaches; eye, nose, and throat irritation; a dry cough; dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea; difficulty in concentrating; fatigue; and sensitivity to odors.… Read More

Living Architecture: Beyond the Eye

| June 5, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
GreenScaped Buildings designed and installed this living wall for The Irvine Company, an excellent example of "Nature In The Space."
There are so many benefits of living walls and green roofs, but you don’t have to take our word for it. The Summer 2014 issue of Living Architecture Monitor magazine features businesses which have recently installed living architecture discussing the improvements in the health and well-being of employees, as well as a positive side effect: increased property values. GreenScaped Buildings client Irvine Company Office Properties is included in the article, “How Green Roofs & Walls Have Impacted Building Occupants’ Well-Being,” Irvine Company manager Sherry Mashadian explains, “The living wall is definitely one of the greater features to the building and added value to the project.… Read More