Jim Mumford

Good Earth Plant Company Show and Tell at the Mingei

| October 19, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing
Outside of my family of course, there isn’t much I love more than bringing nature and plants into places people work, live, and play. I’m still just as enthusiastic about my mission as I was when I bought my original bucket stand selling flowers and then plants downtown nearly 40 years ago. What comes close is TALKING about the power of nature and plants to make our lives better. If a group of people invites me to come to their conference or meeting or program, they do not have to ask twice. I want people in the audience to walk away with a new way of appreciating nature and with some ideas for incorporating nature into their workplaces and homes.… Read More

Adding Plants Isn’t Rocket Science, But It Should Be

| October 12, 2017 | Categories: Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Have you ever felt that post-lunchtime slump at work, around 2 p.m.? You probably blamed it on the California burrito you ate, or a morning coffee crash. The more likely culprit turns out to be carbon dioxide. A research study conducted earlier this year by Harvard, Syracuse, and SUNY Upstate Medical Universities studied office environments and determined the level of carbon dioxide in the average office environment reaches its daily peak around 2 p.m. The CO2 level of 1,000 parts per million is 2.5 times the level of carbon dioxide in the outside atmosphere. Read more about this study in the Harvard Business Journal.… Read More

Change Your Screen, Change Your Life

| October 5, 2017 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing
Just looking at photos of nature like our popular Monkey Faced Orchids can give some of the positive benefits of being outdoors. Monkey Faced Orchids (we love them too much to leave them out)
Where is your phone right now? Chances are good you can reach for it. One in three of you is reading this blog post on a phone right now. According to a 2016 Nielsen Research report, we are now spending nearly 11 hours a day using our tablets, smartphones, personal computers, multimedia devices, video games, radios, DVDs, DVRs and TVs. It’s an hour higher than 2015. We’re all told to put the devices down. You see how well that advice is going over! I’m as guilty as any of you. In my profession, it worries me. The more time we are looking at our smartphones while eating lunch or binging on “Narcos” during a weekend is time we aren’t appreciating the natural world around us.… Read More

Nature’s Way To Boost Employee Productivity

| September 28, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
American workers are known for their productivity, and while we aren’t number one on many lists, we remain in the top five overall on nearly all of them. So it’s kind of shocking to me to read the results of a Gallup Poll from June 2017 which found two-thirds of all employees in the United States say they are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” at work. These employees aren’t applying themselves. They are just getting by. Most of the time they are checked out. Presenteeism is a new term defining employees that are present, but not engaged. This is not a small thing.… Read More

Millennials Push Us To Green Up The Suburbs

| September 20, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Environment, Green Roofs, Nature and Wellbeing
Three generations of Mumfords together at La Jolla Shores celebrating Mother's Day in better times, May 2016: (L to R) daughter Allie, Mom, and yours truly.
The Millennial Generation is full of pleasant surprises. No, I’m not being sarcastic! I know the Millennials pretty well through my son Ted and my daughter Allie, their friends, and plenty of my employees and colleagues I meet at conferences and meetings. It is a big mistake to stereotype Millennials or dismiss them. They are the largest single generation in the United States today, 75.4 million people between ages 20 and 36. There’s no way 75 million people are alike enough to agree on anything or act a certain way. But people follow trends and when that many people go in a particular direction, we need to pay attention.… Read More

Living Walls and Fences Are A Natural Choice

| September 14, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Environment, Living Walls
  People and civilizations have put up walls throughout human history. Some of the world’s greatest structures are walls: the Northern Wall built by the Romans to hold back the Barbarians; the Great Wall of China, and even the Berlin Wall. It is amazing how these walls were constructed without having any of the engineering tools or technology at our fingertips today. Over time, Nature has a hand in ‘decorating’ these walls. In some cases, the walls become ruins and become part of the natural landscape. In other cases, Nature takes advantage of these man-made structures. This is where people like me and companies like Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings have combined the best of both to create living walls for our homes, businesses, and communities.… Read More

Why Aren’t There More Green Roofs in San Diego?

| September 6, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs
In many cities, green roofs are a growing part of the urban landscape.  The benefits are undeniable and substantial. Green roofs solve so many problems in the urban environment: preventing stormwater runoff, reducing the urban heat island effect, reducing heating and cooling costs, soundproofing, adding habitat for pollinators and birds, and cleaning the air to name a few. The city of Toronto, Canada was the first to mandate green roofs on industrial and residential buildings in 2009. Effective earlier this year, France became the first nation to require at least partial coverage with either green roofs or solar energy technology (or a combination of both) on all new construction.… Read More

Urban Corps San Diego Participates in Our ‘Plants With Purpose’ Program

| September 2, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Case Studies, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Urban Corps San Diego is the latest participant in Good Earth Plant Company’s “Plants With Purpose” donation program for nonprofit organizations. We are able to donate plants being recycled from our plantscaping clients to nonprofits which can put the power of nature to good use. Brennan Hubbell from Urban Corps Recycling Education and Outreach San Diego paid us a visit to pick up plants for use in its programs. We were happy to contribute to our old friends at the Urban Corps. Good Earth Plant Company installed the organization‘s rooftop urban farm several years ago, and donated plants and pots on another occasion to help stock its Recycling ECO Center’s Rooftop Resource Garden, a valuable recent addition to its facility.… Read More

Bringing the Green Road Show To You

| August 31, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
In the annual Chapman University Study on American Fears, the fear at the top never changes. In 2016, when people were asked about 79 different fears, giving a presentation is number one among personal fears, followed by heights and crawly things. Lowest: clowns. As my family, friends, and colleagues know all too well, this isn’t a problem for me now. It wasn’t always this way, but now I love to talk to groups of people. One of my favorite things is to give presentations on integrating nature into our every day lives. It’s a passion, not a phobia! (I don’t have a problem with heights creepy crawly bugs or snakes either).… Read More

In Business, Green is Good

| August 17, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Environment, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
  When did you last spend time outdoors? You might think everyone is outside enjoying summer weather and school vacations.  In San Diego, there’s hardly a day all year when you can’t be outside in short sleeves (or less). Buried in a report by the Environmental Protection Agency from 1989 is this shocking statistic: people in industrialized countries include the U.S. and Europe  spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors. Specifically, people spend 93 percent of their time indoors, with anther five percent in transit in a car or public transportation, and just two percent outside. I’d like to think this number is lower in San Diego, but even if it’s 80 percent, it’s still a sobering reality.… Read More