Plants are a great way to add ambience to an indoor space. Studies have been done to prove houseplants also actually have health benefits and improve indoor air quality. Plants can improve indoor air quality because they emit water vapor which pulls the toxic air down into a plants roots where it’s converted into food for the plant. The plant then releases clean oxygen.
In the 1960’s B.C. “Bill” Wolverton, an environmental scientist working for the military and then NASA, did work using plants to clean waste water. Once he discovered plants can remove pollutants from water, he moved on to seeing if plants could cleanse the air in tightly sealed buildings. His experiments showed they did, leading him to write a book called How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office.
Some of the pollutants in the air that certain plants can remove include: benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, mold spores, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
Some plants help lower the humidity which can help prevent mold from forming.
Some beneficial indoor plants include:
– Peace lily – Requires little light and like warm, humid areas such as bathrooms.
– Palms such as Areca palms (also perfect cat-safe indoor plants), bamboo palms, lady palms, and reed palms – Require bright light.
– Spider plant – Requires a little bit of light, but are easy to grow. They also produce ‘babies’ which can be cut off and replanted into their own pot, so once you have one plant, it’s easy to add more for free.
– Snake plant – Prefer a sunny location. It’s best to have a couple of them in their own pot and grouped together. They create their own microclimate, making them more effective at removing mold and other toxins.
– Ferns – Require little light and are good for high humid areas like bathrooms.
– English ivy – Require little light and are good for high humid areas like bathrooms. These are also best grown as a hanging plant. This is one of the best plants to remove mold spores from the air. They also remove benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde from the air.
– Philodendrons – Removes formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide. This is also an easy plant to start more plants from. Cut where there is an elbow and replant in it’s own pot.
– Aloe plants – Removes formaldehyde. This plant is also great to have on hand for burns and sunburns. Just break a piece of a leaf off, split it open and rub on the affected area.
– Rubber plant – Removes formaldehyde, mold and produces a lot of oxygen.
– Calathea – Removes benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene and are ideal for bathrooms.
In addition to helping clean the air, indoor plants can improve mental health, mood, reduce stress, anxiety and cortisol levels. Studies have also shown kids concentrate better in classrooms with either real plants or posters of plants.
Challenge:
If you don’t have any plants in your home, work on finding one you like that would be suitable for your environment. Review the lighting, water requirements and the pollutants removed to see which would be best for you.
Plants can usually be purchased at stores like Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, grocery stores or greenhouses. There are also websites like https://bloomboxusa.com/ where plants can be ordered and shipped to you. Note: I’ve never used bloombox and have no affiliation, but they look like a good option to order plants from.
Resources:
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2007/ps_3.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930072972
https://www.homesandgardens.com/life-design/houseplants-that-prevent-mold
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/g40742429/best-indoor-plants-for-health/
https://time.com/6258638/indoor-plants-health-benefits/
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/best-air-purifying-plants