Bring a little of the outdoors to your indoors!
Houseplants add an organic, natural touch to rooms in your home or to your office workspace. Gazing at the greenery amidst that tangle of cords and technology can be quite soothing.
According to Eureka! Science News, “Adding these plants to indoor spaces can reduce stress, increase task performance, and reduce symptoms of ill health.”
Not only that, plants can also help to clean up indoor air - which can sometimes be even more polluted than the air outside!
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) given off by furniture, paints, building supplies, and office equipment can make people sick, triggering headaches, nausea, dizziness, irritation to eyes, nose, and throat, and worsening of asthma symptoms. Long-term exposure to high VOC levels can increase risks of cancer and damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. (Read more about “sick-building syndrome” here.)
But thanks to a process called phytoremediation, indoor plants can gobble up these pollutants. Of the plants tested by researchers from the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture, a few leafy species seemed to have super pollutant-neutralizing powers:
Loading ...Got pets? Before bringing plants into a pet household, check their toxicity to cats and dogs (known to nibble on leaves now and then …)
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