Health, Taken Seriously

Indoor air quality is often 2-5 times worse than outdoor air.  One of the best ways to keep your indoor air clean is to open your windows when possible.  But in the cool winter, you can also use plants to freshen indoor air.  Some plants have been found to purify the air of contaminants like formaldehyde.

For cleaner indoor air, NASA research has found that an 1800 square-foot house should have 15-18 of the following plants in six to either inch diameter containers:

• English Ivy
• Spider Plant
• Golden pothos or Devil’s Ivy
• Peace lily
• Chinese evergreen
• Bamboo palm or Reed palm
• Snake plant or Mother-in-law’s tongue
• Heartleaf philodendron
• Selloum philodendron
• Elephant ear philodendron
• Red-edged dracaena
• Cornstalk dracaena
• Janet Craig dracaena
• Warneck dracaena
• Weeping fig
• Gerbera daisy or Barberton daisy
• Pot mom or Florist’s chrysanthemum
• Rubber plant

My 2500 sqaure foot home has one peace lily, four spider plants, and six pothos plants for a total of 11 air cleaning plants.  Looks like I need to double that.

For more, see my post on Cleaner Indoor Air.