Indoor plants do more than brighten up your home (or office) decor and feng-shui; they improve the air quality of the space you spend most of your day in (when you’re not at work or out catching Pokemon) – as apparently we spend 90% of our time indoors.
What decreases the quality of air in your home?
Indoor air pollutants exist, they’re a real thing and they can come from cigarette smoke, chemicals, lead, cleaning products, mould, carbon monoxide and pesticides.
Over time, as homes become better insulated against weather these pollutants can build up. There are large steps a homeowner can take to drastically reduce build up of these pollutants such as removing mould, keeping a clean and dust-free home and ventilation, but house plants can also help!
House plants remove carbon dioxide and return oxygen thanks to photosynthesis, but they also remove toxins from air, soil, and water by metabolizing some toxic chemicals, releasing harmless by-products, and they can incorporate other toxins like heavy metals into plant tissues.
House plants that are most effective at improving air quality…
Some great examples of home plants for improving air quality are:
- Garden mum (Chrysanthemum)
- Spider plant
- Dracaena
- Ficus
- Peace Lily
- Bamboo
- Aloe Vera
