A fundamental right is the ability to breathe clean air. However, especially in cities, we seldom ever have access to pure air to breathe. Since most Americans spend their time indoors, ensuring that the air we breathe is healthy should be a primary focus.
Many indoor plants may purify the air in your house in addition to being lovely to look at. Yes! All plants serve as natural air filters—thank you, Mother Nature!—but some are more effective than others in removing pollutants.
Can indoor plants really purify your home?
After NASA published a series of studies from the late 1980s claiming that indoor plants might filter the air, people began to fill their windowsills with greenery in growing numbers.
Sadly, it appears that some wishful thinking was there at the time. According to recent research, a 1,500 square foot home would require 680 plants for the foliage to effectively combat pollutants.
However, indoor plants offer additional air-improving and health advantages that you may enjoy without turning your home into a wall-to-wall jungle. The presence of even a little quantity of vegetation may improve indoor air quality. Why not thus add a few low-maintenance plants to your living area?
Health benefits of air-purifying indoor plants
Indoor plants can still enhance your air quality even if it would require outrageously large volumes of foliage to alter VOC levels in your home or workplace.
Indoor plants can
- reduce irritation to eyes, ears, nose and throat
- prevent or ease coughing and congestion
- lower your stress
- boost your attention capacity
Purifying indoor plants raises relative humidity and lowers CO2 levels. In other words, they assist in the removal of stale air and serve as a natural humidifier, preventing or reducing irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and even the lungs.
Foliage does not just improve air quality; it also makes people feel better. For instance, interacting with indoor plants might help you feel less stressed.
You are not required to converse with your aloe vera unless you wish to. Never would we pass judgment. Repotting, trimming, or watering your indoor plants that filter the air will work.
Similarly, the ficus may help you stay focused when you’re slogging through a difficult activity like a school paper or a report for work just by being in the same room as you.
12 of the Best Indoor Plants that Clean the Air
1. ALOE VERA
Since it prefers a bright location, a healing aloe plant is a great addition to your kitchen windowsill. This succulent will be removing formaldehyde and benzene, which are present in varnishes, floor finishes, and detergents, from the air while also being on standby to treat any cooking burns.
In a sunny area, this plant will flourish. It is ideal for new plant parents because it doesn’t need frequent watering.