Clean Up Your Indoor Air With Plants

I’ve been looking into indoor air filtration systems, and I think I finally decided on a whole house HEPA filter installation. But that’s gonna cost some pennies, so while I’m saving, I’ll be cleaning the air the way nature intended: using good old-fashioned houseplants.

A couple of decades ago, a NASA study researched the effectiveness of certain plants in cleaning up indoor air. The study hailed spider plants as one of the most effective. Years later, BC Wolverton, a former NASA researcher, continued the study. Wolverton published a book called How To Grow Fresh Air in which he discusses the benefits plants have on indoor air quality, including the ability to absorb and breakdown certain chemicals commonly offgassed such as benzene and formaldehyde, rendering them harmless. According to Wolverton, for optimal effect one should have 2-3 plants in about 8 inch pots for every 100 square feet of floor space. In How To Grow Fresh Air, Wolverton lists the top ten plants for improving air quality as: areca palm, lady palm, bamboo palm, rubber plant, dracaena, English ivy, dwarf date palm, ficus alii, Boston fern, and peace lily. Since different plants specialize in removing different toxins from the air, it is recommended that you use a variety of plants for increased effectiveness. Bringing all those plants into your house can increase the humidity levels, making the space more vulnerable to things like mold. Make sure not to let water sit in drip plates too long, where it can breed bacteria.

No matter where you live, the air just isn’t as good these days as it was a hundred years ago. So do yourself and your family a favor, and bring something green home today.