Indoor plants for a brighter day?

Indoor plants for a brighter day?

In my past I used to specialize in raising dried flower arrangements.  Yes, I said raise.  I would take healthy plants water them, subject them to vast amounts of cigarette smoke and then neglect them.  They would dry out and die.  Eureka!  Instant dried flowers.

As I matured, I saw the benefits of plants (properly taken care of) in the home.  They were pleasant to look at and gave me some relaxation in getting an ivy plant to string all around the room at the ceiling and wall borders.  I would never have imagined they could have improved the air.

Yes, I know that plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and use it as an airborne fertilizer to support their growth as well as the nourishment from the roots; the more carbon dioxide in the air, the better it grows.

I did not know that the green plants could also help to remove pollutants from the air.  The Pennsylvania State University performed an experiment on the ability of plants to eliminate ozone from the air.  They discovered that plants cut in half the time it takes for ozone to be reduced in the air.

In a test chamber, it took between 38 to 120 minutes for ozone to reduce from 200 ppb (parts per billion) to less than 5 ppb.  The chambers with houseplants in them showed an average of half that time for the same ozone depletion.

Snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata), spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), and golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum) were tested and no differences were detected between the species.

So, if you want less ozone in the air, put a lot of green plants in there.  It does not seem to matter what type of green plants you use, so be creative and use different types just to be sure.

Image courtesy of davidduran

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