Houseplants are The-Thing-In-Style right now (as a little
Pinterest search will show you).
You don't have them in your living room yet? Don't worry, it's not too late to jump on the bandwagon.
And here are a few reasons why you should:
1. Houseplants provide fresh oxygen
Photosynthesis. Remember from your first year of biology?
A very (very) basic explanation: the plant uses sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to grow and releases oxygen while doing that.... Or to really get into it: read
this Wikipedia article.
Oh, and one affect of less carbon dioxide in the air is that you feel less fatigued, which means you could safely state that house plants give you energy.
2. Houseplants filter the air
Not only do houseplants create fresh oxygen, some plants also filter the air from pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.
I'm not making this up: NASA conducted a very extensive study to the air-filtering qualities of houseplants back in 1989.
A full transcript of the original study
can be found here. Or, for a quick overview of the outcome and a list of plants that are stars at battling indoor pollution, check out
this Wikipedia article.
NASA recommends at least 1 plant per 100sq feet (ca 9m2) of home. Feel free to do the math yourself.
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NASA is also growing plants in space: Zuchini sapling grown in the international space station in 2012
read about it here. |
3. Houseplants make you smarter
At least that's what
this article on Scientific American states. There's still a lot of research going on in this area, and most scientists agree that houseplants can help you stay fresh and focused during a hard day of staring at the screen, thus improving productivity.
4. Houseplants make you happy and healthy
Living in a green environment can reduce stress, lower blood-pressure and can even help the healing process: according to cardiologist Dr. Bruno Cortis, patients who have a room with a garden view recover more quickly than patients who are staring out of a window to a brick wall. Not hard to imagine that.
Some people say the reason we feel better when we're surrounded with plants is because we do well when surrounded by nature. Something to do with humanbeings living in nature for millions of years, only to retreat into a world of concrete in the last century.
Again: makes sense.
5. Houseplants are natural humidifiers
As humans we feel best in a humidity-level ranging from 40%-60%.
Most rooms and offices however, have a humidity level of 25% (especially in winter, when the heater's on) and it's not uncommon to have a humidifier in a room or office to help create the right humidity. Such a waste of space and electricity.
Houseplants can significantly increase the over-all humidity-level of a room, bringing it right up to the ideal percentage.
Healthy humidity-levels are not only great for your skin, it also prevents itchy eyes and an irritated throat.
6. Houseplants are pretty
A pretty obvious reason, and enough for me to start building an indoor garden. Not convinced by the photographs so far? How about these lovely settings?:
So go get yourselves some houseplants! Now! (or in the near future, don't feel pressured...)
Need a little help determining which houseplants are best for you? have a look at
this infographic with 6 houseplants which are great for indoor air quality.
