Fighting for Green in a Gray World
A look back into the past ten years and why Nature Now exists.
It’s been a long ten years since 2017, before Nature Now was created to alleviate some of the stress regarding access to nature. In 2018, following the brutal onslaught of natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires, the nation held our first celebrity-centered event focusing on the state of our planet. Celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, who is already vocal about the issue, attended the conference. They were joined by musicians Lin-Manuel Miranda and Beyoncé, who come from Puerto Rico and Texas — two places that were hit by the 2017 hurricanes.
During 2019, Trump spent his second year in office cutting millions of acres of over twenty national parks. One of the first instances of this happened as early as December 2017, when he slashed the size of Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent, and another monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante, by about 50 percent. While the government focused on allocating less money towards parks, public interest in the environment grew and protests erupted against the possibility of a defunding of the EPA.
The crucial turning point was the year that the drought in California came back harder. Multiple dry seasons in a row, coupled with people going back to water-wasting tendencies left California in a deeper hole than before. Laws regulating grass lawns and home-owned gardens were much stricter this time around, allowing only drought-friendly plants. Homeowners caught watering their lawns or washing their cars paid a hefty fine of up to $340 in some cities. By 2021, golf courses were forced to reduce business hours as patrons opted for driving ranges that used less grass.
As concerns for the environment became more mainstream, culture shifted to a nature-favored aesthetic. Nature pop-up museums, such as The Green Place and Mother Nature Knows Best, have gained more popularity, especially among urban cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 2017, we had places such as Color Factory and The Museum of Ice Cream that took Instagram by storm, but today our favorite photogenic backdrops are little moments of nature that we can’t get in the city. Meanwhile, the green aesthetic continued in other places in the art world, such as a revival of florals in fashion and digital renderings of landscape paintings. Casual art lovers also took their shot at ephemeral art at locations such as beaches and woods, using the hashtag #NaturallyArt.
While the previous decade witnessed the birth of “glamping,” 2023 saw the rise of “extreme picnicking” in tandem with increased backlash against screen technology. Resistance towards the boom in VR technology prompted more outdoor activity, thus extreme picnicking was born. This and the desire for greenery caused a rise in public park usage by nearly 200% — urban parks were busier than they had ever been in 30 years.
Unfortunately, the increased public park attendance put a heavy burden on maintenance — a cost that the state was not willing to pay for. By 2025, cities sadly started implementing low entry fees to get into parks. Most started at $1, with it still being free for seniors and small children, but larger ones like Golden Gate Park now cost up to $5 on the weekends. Many organizations make it their mission to keep public parks free to the public, but these efforts are not seen enough where needed most— in poorer communities of color that cannot afford to pay a fee to stroll in the park. Families now rely more on schools to provide their children with the appropriate environment to play in the outdoors.
All of these shifts in the way we see the environment have brought us to a different relationship with Mother Nature. After the threatening of their existence, national parks today are on the same level as amusement parks such as Disneyland. They bring urban dwellers experiences like no other place can, especially since nearby woods and camping grounds are interrupted by the lights of surrounding cities. In response, some national parks have been more fiercely marketed to the public as vacation spots, in order to bring in revenue to maintain parks.
Finally, this brings us to our main topic, Nature Now, a delivery service that instantly provides experiences of nature to consumers. Their services range from delivering regular house plants to deeper sensory experiences such as light projections of a waterfall accompanied with relaxing sounds, or a giant grass mat that one can rent out to lie in. The example pictured here is of mobile plant walls than can be temporarily installed in rooms, such as an office. Nature in these spaces can simultaneously reduce stress and increase productivity. With such limited resources to the natural environment, consumers opt for Nature Now because of the affordability and ability to be rented rather than bought. Customers no longer have to worry about the commitment of a houseplant when they can rent one and later return one to assure its full life.
However, the most important part of this company is not their delivery service, but their dedication to keeping public parks open in places where nature is crucial. By donating a portion of their profits to local parks, they allow said parks to remain free and open to the public. Nature Now offers a convenient and desired service that essentially allocates money from wealthier neighborhoods to communities who need it most.
In a world where environmental friendliness is trendy and nature is commoditized, Nature Now leverages our instant delivery service to provide on demand nature, making us the only organization that gives simulations or pieces of real nature in order to keep public parks open and free to urban dwellers.
When I first started this project in 2017, my main source of inspiration was a little creek I lived next to in Piedmont Ave, Oakland. I learned of Glen Echo Creek’s history, and that it was originally planned to be put underground for housing development until the surrounding community rallied together to successfully prevent it. I moved back home to Los Angeles, but I would occasionally visit the Bay and check up on the creek to see how it was doing and get a little time “away” from the city.
When cities started introducing entry fees to public parks, my heart was broken, especially for neighborhoods where parks are a place for the community to gather and host events. I didn’t expect for this to happen, but I also was not surprised. Back in Los Angeles, constant wildfires attacked the area, affecting the air quality and surrounding nature. As demand for nature in cities grew higher, but access diminished, I felt a sense of helplessness. That’s when I came up with Nature Now.
While I think that Nature Now is making a difference in the communities it serves, I hope that it will be only a small contribution to the world — that the government will work harder, too, to preserve our environment. Social movements cannot rely on a few to drive change — it needs support in large numbers. We owe it to the world.
