Improving The Air Quality In Your House With Plants

Improving The Air Quality In Your House With Plants

The average adult spends most of their life indoors, between work, spending time at home, and sleeping. This means that the quality of the air in our homes and offices has a huge effect on our long term health. There are lots of great ways to improve the air quality in your home. Perhaps one of the most beautiful and psychologically pleasing ways is by including air purifying plants in your home decor.

Let’s take a look at five plants that are great at removing VOCs (volatile organic compounds) from the air and are easy to maintain in your home.

What Pollutants Are In My Home?

VOCs are the main culprit for the toxins in your air. It’s often true that these toxins have a higher concentration in homes and offices due to a lack of proper air flow and ventilation. VOCs are found in paints, building materials, pesticides, glues, markers, electronics, and several other household items.

These materials cause toxins such as ammonia, toluene, xylene, benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde to freely circulate in the air. Some symptoms of inhaling these chemicals are eye nose and throat irritation, headaches, nausea, and even damage to your kidneys, liver, and nervous system. Children and pets may be especially vulnerable to these chemicals.

How Else Can I Keep The Air In My Home Clean?

Here are some ways to help improve the air quality in your home:

● Remove any carpeting or vacuum your carpet regularly to remove dust and settled compounds.

● Use milder or all-natural cleaning supplies. As mentioned above, many commercial and industrial cleaners contain the very VOCs we are trying to remove from our offices. Limiting exposure to these cleaners could dramatically improve indoor air quality.

● Change your filters regularly and have your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems)                  regularly maintained.

● Use a humidifier to add moisture to the air.

● Adding plants can help increase humidity and remove airborne toxins.

Purify Your Air With These 5 Plants:

Here are the top 5 plants that you can get for your home or work office today that will improve conditions in your workspace without taking a lot of time and maintenance to keep happy and thriving.

1. Spider Plant

This popular house plant does a great job of absorbing and breaking down carbon monoxide, xylene, and formaldehyde. They also have a high transpiration rate, which increases humidity in the air. These plants are not only easy to take care of, but safe for pets and children that may be in the home.

2. Mass Cane Plant

 

The mass cane plant has beautiful cascading tropical leaves with a strong thick stalk, making them a very attractive plant for the home. They do best in indirect sunlight so they are a great choice if you have a room that doesn’t receive strong direct light. This plant helps to remove formaldehyde from the air.

3. Rubber Tree

Rubber plants are perfect for those who are beginners with house plants or are simply too busy to maintain them. They prefer infrequent waterings and do well in dim lighting. They can grow up to 8 feet tall, making them a very impressive office accent. They help purify the air by breaking down formaldehyde and removing CO2 from the air. They also have an ability to help eliminate up tp 60% of airborne bacteria and mold in a room.

4. Red Ivy

Ivy plants make beautiful accent plants in the home since their long vines can be placed creatively around other furniture. This one in particular has a beautiful purple and green hue that can add an intense splash of color to an indoor space. This plant does a great job at removing benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide from the air. It can also add a significant amount of moisture to a room, preventing irritation from dryness. This ivy likes frequent waterings and bright indirect sunlight. It is flexible in cold and warm spaces and prefers a temperature range of 55F to 80F.

5. Money Plant

The money plant, which is also known as a pothos plant, is particularly good for indoor environments that contain a large amount of electronic devices. It’s said that the money plant is an “anti-radiator” and that it helps to reduce harmful radiation from computers, phones, and other technological devices. It also has a strong ability to remove VOCs such as benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, and carbon monoxide. This plant likes bright indirect lighting and heavy infrequent waterings.

Plants that support and remediate indoor air quality can be a good investment for your long-term wellbeing. Purchasing a few of these plants while implementing other methods of removing VOCs can have a significant impact on your office. Since the average entrepreneur or employee spends at least one third of their days in this space, it’s certainly worth it to make a few small but effective changes.

There are many more plants that can improve the air quality of your office, so take some time to look through your options and find some varieties that will match your personality and your work space the best. You’ll have peace of mind that you’re taking care of your health as you work hard towards your career.