Indoor plants for health and wellness

Indoors, plants are busy in cleaning the air we breathe and absorbing chemicals emitted from building materials, carpets and furniture. They can dampen traffic noise, absorb carbon dioxide and increase home values by as much as 15%! The psychological benefits of plants have been recognized for many years yet it is only recently that studies have quantified these benefits. These studies show that stress reductions and increased performance of college students and office workers by up to 12% are achieved from the installation of interior landscapes. Plants have also been shown to increase feelings of wellness and speed up the recovery of hospital patients. Other studies attribute unusually high occupancy rates at hotels to gardens and plants, further supporting the fact that landscapes enhance relaxation and help reduce stress! It is also believed that over time, plants and soil microorganisms may in fact adapt themselves to absorb even more and different contaminants, turning to them as a source of nutrient, much like nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Just 15 plants can help clean the air of the average 1,800 ft home or the addition of one medium-sized indoor plant per 100ft of home or office space.

Living plants do even more to cleanse and revitalize the air we breathe. They found that plant leaves and roots and soil bacteria work together to take in airborne pollutants, process them and then release clean air. As well, living plants release moisture, providing a natural means of maintaining correct humidity levels.

Buildings can cause problems

We often hear the term “sick buildings”, these are buildings that have either poor ventilation or badly serviced air-conditioning and contain construction materials and/or furnishings that produce noxious emissions. Most commercial buildings constructed during the past three decades are also more tightly sealed than older buildings, thus concentrating noxious emissions.

Most people in developed countries work, shop and relax in these “sick buildings”. “Sick buildings” are a potential health hazard! Living plants can solve the problems associated with “sick buildings”. The correct placement of suitable plants will reduce toxicity levels in poorly ventilated buildings and increase the effectiveness of existing air conditioning systems.

Improve Productivity

By using plants to maintain a high standard of air quality, employers can ensure a high level of employee productivity. Illnesses associated with poor air quality and low humidity, such as sore and itchy throats, congestion, headaches, fatigue, nausea, and skin rashes, cause high levels of absenteeism.

Stress-busting Plants

Indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats, and other cold related illnesses by more than 30%. Extensive research already shows that houseplants alleviate stress, help us relax, and increase our general wellbeing. This study aimed to discover how far houseplants could benefit our physical and psychological health.

Office staff, working in offices 10m², were questioned on their health, particularly symptoms related to spending a lot of time indoors and being under stress. After two months without plants, a range of houseplants were placed in half the offices. After a year, the plants were swapped to those offices with no plants in. After another year all staff were questioned on what effect the plants hah had on their health and well being.

Professional contractors looked after the plants, so any benefits to the office staff were from looking at the plants and the plants effect on the atmosphere and air quality, rather than from nurturing them.

Houseplants are our often-overlooked helpers in ridding the air of pollutants and toxins, counteracting outgassing and contributing to balanced internal humidity. Find out which houseplants are our most effective allies in keeping your household air clean and pure.

Simple Solution

It is suggested that one plant should be allowed for approximately 10 square yards of floor space, assuming average ceiling heights of 8 to 9 feet. This means that you need two or three plants to contribute to good air quality in the average domestic living room of about 20 to 25 square yards.

These 10 plants are the most effective all-around in counteracting offgassed chemicals and contributing to balanced internal humidity.

• Areca palm
• Reed palm
• Dwarf date palm
• Boston fern
• Janet Craig dracaena
• English ivy
• Australian sword fern
• Peace Lily
• Rubber plant
• Weeping fig

Although many plants like light, they do not all have to be placed near windows. Many indoor plants originated in the dense shade of tropical forests and have a high rate of photosynthesis. These are ideal for the home and can be placed in darker corners. When positioning plants, try to strike a balance between light and ventilation because the effect of plants on indoor air pollution appears to be reduced if they are set in a draft.

Indoor Plants Reduce the Room Temperature

Indoor plants connect the human beings to nature. People who feel connected to nature feel happier. Indoor plants make them feel cooler on hot days, especially when they move softly in the breeze from a ceiling fan. Plants can reduce air temperature by blocking sunlight. Further cooling occurs when water evaporates from the leaf surface. The conversion of water to air vapor – a chemical process- removes heat energy from the air. They can be a natural air conditioner. The evaporation from a plant can produce the cooling effect.

Indoor Plants Regulate the Relative Humidity

Along with their aesthetics appeal, houseplants give off moisture, which in turn reduces the dryness of a centrally heated environment. By adding oxygen to their surroundings, houseplants enrich the air we breathe. Plants regulate humidity by transpiring (sweating) more or less, depending upon the humidity in a given space. Very high and very low levels of humidity are associated with a number of illnesses so this thought-free regulation is a blessing.

Indoor Plants Decreases the Dust Indoors

There was a reduction in the amount of dust in home, just by having the plants around. Choosing pollution-busting plants is simple. The larger the leaf, the more impurities it absorbs. Aim should be for 2 to 3 large-sized plants per 100 sq ft.

Indoor Plants Enhance the Indoor Oxygen Level

Plants provide oxygen. In their process of photosynthesis, they take in carbon dioxide, using it to make the sugars they need to supply them with energy. In turn, they release oxygen as a by-product of that process. This is how the living biota gets the oxygen that all breathe. The more green spaces people have, the more oxygen is produced for their benefit! As the processes of photosynthesis are carried out, other chemical substances are absorbed into the leaves of plants. The plants have a mechanism for breaking down these chemicals to use the beneficial ones for their processes. This helps to filter pollutants from the air that we breathe.

Living Plants Helps in Decreasing the Noise Pollution

Strategically placed, plants quiet down a space. A small indoor hedge placed around a space reduces noise by 5 decibels. The positive contribution of interior plants to sound absorption has been well documented in numerous studies. Almost anyone who lives or works in a place can give account to being “annoyed” into taking a break due to the common audible elements. According to the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, landscape professionals are replacing stale cubicles for innovative plant groupings to reduce this costly ‘decibel distraction factor’. Houseplants can help block out noise from nearby busy roads and even noisy neighbours as well as provide habitat and food for birds and small animals

Conclusion

Benefits derived from the botanical friends include a wide range of psychological and physiological effects. Plants not only add beauty to a room, but also make it a friendly, inviting place to live or work. Plants symbolize friendship and appear to have a calming, spiritual effect on most people. Plants and their root microbes are nature’s biological cleaning machines. It is commonly understood that plants purify and revitalize the earth’s air and water.