The Environmental, Health and Well-being Benefits of Interior Plants
Interior plants improve air quality and help us feel good
Plants have been proven to remove airborne harmful contaminants. Most people spend the majority
of time indoors at home or work.Air conditioning, improved insulation, and energy-saving all reduce
air exchange in buildings, so we breathe the same air again and again. Because the modern internal
environment is virtually hermetically sealed and the construction materials used, modern synthetic
furnishings, computers, electrical equipment, and everyday household products such as cleaning material,
can produce harmful substances that are trapped inside the building. These all contribute to the well
recognised "sick building syndrome". Polluted indoor air, contaminated by volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), are a major cause of headaches, nausea, sore & itchy eyes, loss of concentration and other
"sick building" symptoms. The simple addition of interior plants is a natural way to help remove these
pollutants significantly.
Humidity is another important and often underestimated factor in human health. When
humidity levels are too low, individuals are more likely to develop viral infections; when humidity is
too high, vulnerability to other disease increases. Plants tend to control humidity to within the
optimum range for human health.
Plants absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. This obviously reduces your carbon
footprint but also the increased oxygen level refreshes the air -and you! - leading to increased
concentration and productivity (in various studies between 10%-15% increase).There is a wealth of
scientific study into the beneficial effects of live plants in the interior environment including a
large NASA programme. For more detail of this and other independent research refer to:
Other Benefits of Interior Plants
Aswell as purifying the air we breathe the presence of indoor plants have also been shown to have many other beneficial effects, details
of this research can be found on the links above. These benefits include:
- Increased positive feelings and reduced feelings of anxiety, anger and sadness
- Reduction of sound levels
- Reduction of stress levels
- Control of humidity to the within the optimum levels for human health
- Cooling effect
- Absorption of carbon dioxide and emission of oxygen refreshing the air
- Improved concentration levels leading to improved productivity particularly with those working with computers
- Reduction of absenteeism in the workplace
- Faster recovery from mental tiredness
- Interiors feel spacious, looked after and clean
- People prefer to occupy rooms that contain plants
- Improved image - interiors are perceived as "more expensive"
