Plants Are Way More Than “What You See Is What You Get”
During these corona times health is top of mind for most of us. One health factor that is often underexposed is the great work that plants do to improve our environment. Plants bring air for everyone. They work overtime to clean our world. It is about time we are reminded of this phenomenon. Plants are way more than “what you see is what you get”. They go beyond just being a decoration for your home, terrace or garden. They are more than just a window dressing for offices and shops. Plants produce a unique hidden gift that we humans need: air.
Photo courtesy of Giulia Freitas on Pexels
NASA Clean Air Study
Is this new intel? Not at all. There is this NASA Clean Air Study back in the late 1980’s that revealed the purifying role plants have. No need here to sum up all the toxic workings of chemicals in the air that we breathe like trichlorethylene, formaldehyde or ammonia, but you bet there is a lot of pollution to swallow these days. Many plants have the ability to clean this, giving relief to quite some physical complaints related to dirty air.Which Plants Work Best?
Many plants deserve the title ‘Top Air Cleaner’. Some of them are the green plants Phoenix Roebellinii, Ficus, Dracaena, Chamaedora and Sanseveria varieties. Also the Clusia from another article at Thursd. is an nice tiny air cleaner. Also flowering plants work well, like Chrysanthemum, Gerbera and Anthurium. According to this same NASA Study, one plant for every ten square meters should suffice to clean indoor spaces. But that was over thirty years ago. We sure don’t need less today, perhaps even more.
Photo courtesy of Giulia Freitas on Pexels