Cleaning the Planet with Greenery
By Gina Dostler
The celebration of Earth Day this week steps up awareness about our responsibility to serve as guardians of the planet’s ecosystems, struggling to keep in balance. One of those guardians is Julie Farrow of Plantscapers, Inc., creator of living wall designs and beautiful plantscapes as part of architectural or interior designs. Her mission adding “green” into homes and businesses stems from her love of nature.
Q: What can we do to help the planet?
A: Earth Day is about cleaning up Mother Earth. And the simplest thing any one can do to help clean up this world is to get a plant, one simple little plant. It naturally cleans the air by absorbing formaldehydes, benzenes and other air pollutants while sucking in excess carbon and giving us oxygen. A plant giving oxygen makes you happier and you work and feel better. Currently many cities are not budgeting for parks anymore, utilizing all square foot of acres for homes, business and shopping centers. So if we turn our heads and leave out the greenery, we will be in much trouble. If you take a look at Asia, they are now getting it, utilizing techniques developed by Patrick Blanc where densely populated cities have living walls on the outside of buildings. It allows the buildings to “breathe” down into the streets, relieve congestion and bring positive energy.
Q: Plants bring balance to our world.
A: That’s it. Absolutely. By throwing down so much concrete with disregard to nature, we are, in the very least, sacrificing air quality. Mother Nature always works in balance. Take for example Detroit, everyone is leaving that city and homes and buildings are abandoned all over the place. Yet green is sprouting up everywhere, our earth having the last say over anything done in her presence. It is the natural progression of things, of what is supposed to happen. So I have to congratulate all my clients and forward thinking landscapers and architects that are incorporating plants as part of their designs. Our lives depend on it. Whether it is drought tolerant succulents or green foliage, we need to remember our plant friends.
Q: But your green thumb brings life to homes and business. How about brown thumbers? How do we improve our luck with plants?
A: Two things. Number one advice to consider is to buy from a very good source such as a nursery that specializes in plants where they are cared for properly and shipped properly as well. Too many places ship plants along with their other merchandise, which means weeks in darkness on a truck, leaving them stressed and worn out. Secondly educate yourself on the plants, learning about their lighting needs and the plants that would be best for your home. Talk to the experts at the nursery, quizzing them on the plant’s soil requirements, where it was grown and watering needs. For outdoor plants get together with a good landscape architect for the best foliage; or for indoors, consult with an interiorscaper to show you not only the best plants, but ones that work well with your interior design.
Q: You’ve recently partnered with Environment Furniture in SOCO. Seems like a perfect match.
A: We bring our beautiful array of living plants along side their sustainable furniture designs. All their stuff is sustainable, some even made of army tents, normally thrown away but now recycled with a purpose. A lot of actors purchase furniture and accessories from this company. The furniture is just for the home, but we work with companies that provide the very same sustainable designs for businesses. We need to be more aware of how we use our purchasing power. Finding eco-friendly companies brings relief, maybe in just a small way, to Earth, but every bit of help is one step closer to a cleaner planet.
Q: I guess it is pretty obvious how you contribute to the green movement.
A: Supplying beautiful plants to the home or office allows Earth to integrate with us. Not just on a personal level, but in a more distant primal one where we once upon a time had communed with nature every day and knew her every movement while she guided our natural lives. It’s instinct to have green living things around us, actually a necessity that even NASA studies have proven. Earth week is here to bring awareness so we can keep the continuity going between Mother Earth and our civilization. It allows us to consciously understand that our business decisions should be based on how we impact the world, not on how we impact the stockholders. And I know there is a balance where businesses can prosper and at the same time be kind to the environment.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Julie Farrow
Plantscapes Inc.
17281 Eastman Street
Irvine, CA 92614
949-486-1497 P
949-486-1499 F
info@plantscapers.com
www.plantscapers.com
