Now that it’s Winter, we are all indoors more often than not. We need to think about keeping our indoor air clean, which can be hard to do in colder climates.
According to NASA, there are several houseplants that are superstars at cleaning the air and putting oxygen back into your indoor atmosphere. Plants purify air, making them part of what NASA calls “nature’s life support system.”
There are five plants that are relatively easy to care for, do not need a lot of light or water and are the best air cleaners, according to the NASA study.
1. Peace Lily- a relatively easy plant. It will work in low light situations and needs very little water.
2. Florist’s Chrysanthemum- usually associated with being outdoors in the garden, this plant is a work horse when it comes to cleaning indoor air.
These first two plants remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene and toluene as well as ammonia.
3. English Ivy- again a plant that can thrive even if neglected.
4. Snake Plant- also known as “mother-in-law tongue” because of its sharp edges, it can withstand low light and a bit of neglect. Just check its water once in a while, in winter it may only need water once every other month!
5. Red Edged Dracena- again can stand lower light levels, but may need to be fertilized a couple times a month during growing periods.
These last three remove all the toxins that the first two remove, except for the ammonia.
So whether you need to clean up the air in your home or your office, these are just five of the plants NASA recommends in helping prevent “sick building syndrome.” There is a TED talk related to this clean air study that is really interesting.
Here’s to your health!
Yes, I LOVE keeping these air cleaning plants in my home. Not only are they lovely to look at, but it’s nice to know they are also doing you a favor. :)
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