Five Reasons Plants Are Good For You
Did you know that people are indoors up to 90% of the time - and that air pollution indoors is up to 10 times worse than outdoors?
Unhealthy air quality due to poor ventilation is rampant in closed office buildings and industrial spaces. A range of sources cause this unhealthy air - synthetic materials (i.e., carpets, garbage bags, tissues, permanent press clothing), chemically treated materials (plywood, particle board, paneling) and human bioeffluents (the chemicals given off by humans - and we don't mean digestive gases). Many healthy problems including allergies, asthma and respiratory diseases to cancer and neuropsychological problems.
Plants Can Help!
Plants have been proven to reduce the amount of formaldehyde, Benzene, Xylene, Chloroform, Ammonia, Alcohol, Acetone and Trichloroethylene in the air, all of which are being emitted from commonly used office products.
How does this happen? Plants remove toxins by absorbing the pollution through microscopic openings in the leaves and then transport these toxins to the roots of the plants where root microbes biodegrade the pollutants. This biodegrading process turns the pollutants into structures that can be used as a source of food for the microbes and the plant itself. Isn't nature great?
In addition, through the process of photosynthesis, plants give off oxygen, thus creating even more healthful air to breath. Furthermore, plants naturally regulate humidity by transpiring (sweating) depending upon the humidity in a given space. Very high and very low levels of humidity are associated with a number of illness so this natual regulation is a blessing.
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NASA SAYS THEY ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
In the late 1970's NASA decided to test the feasibility of creating a closed ecological life-support system. In other words they wanted to know if they could create manned moonbases. The first thing they learned was that Skylab had over 300 volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in the air inside the spacecraft. Not terribly conducive to long term living. A 1980 study disclosed that plants could remove these toxic chemicals
Aware of the potential for this line of research, the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) helped fund a two-year study which tested 12 common houseplants and their ability to remove a variety of toxins from the air. These toxins included formaldehyde, toluene, Chloroform, Ammonia and several other chemicals which are released by common household and building products.
The positive results of this testing, published in 1989, resulted in the formation of the Plants for Clean Air Council (PCAC), a non-profit organization, which supports the cultivation of plant use for indoor air quality control.
To silence the critics who claimed that "sealed-chamber" studies were not applicable to the "real world" NASA created a well sealed structure called "biohome." It contained many toxin producing household items. Tests showed that prior to the introduction of plants, people who entered the biohome would get sick building syndrome - burning eyes and throat, breathing problems, etc. - and the toxin level measured quite high. With the introduction of plant life, people were able to enter with no reactions and the toxin levels were significantly reduced. Pretty darn impressive, no?
PLANTS MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON
Tending to plants helps to relieve stress, this is a scientific fact. But did you know that taking care of your little green friends (the leafy ones, not the extraterrestrial ones) also helps you tap into the more loving, nurturing aspects of yourself? If you don't care for them, they die -- you're learning a lot about responsibility here. You're adopting a living, "breathing" organic thing.
You've heard of people talking to their plants and how good it is for the plant - it receives more carbon dioxide from your breath, which in turn helps them with their photosynthesis. By the same token, you are gaining a great deal from your plant. Beside their release of oxygen which helps you live a healthier life, they are teaching you about the subtleties of care-giving. You are forced to become more focused on something outside of your self-absorbed ego. (If you're already a loving person feel free to disregard the previous sentence.)
You become aware of its needs: How much water does it want, how much light is it getting, etc. and this translates into your human interactions. You become aware of the needs of the people around you. So, as absurd as it may seem - plants do make you a better person
PLANTS MAKE YOU HAPPY
More and more research is being done which proves that growing plants may be the best medicine in the world for improving your mental (as well as physical) well being. They not only add beauty but they've been proven to have calming, stress-reducing, muscle relaxing and spiritual effects upon people. Can't say that for about lot of thing in this world - except perhaps drugs. Plants are healthier.
Dr. Robert Ulrich of Texas A&M University conducted research in which the brain waves of people shown vegetation scenes, water scenes ad urban scenes were measured. Alpha waves were used as a physiological measure of a person's degree of wakeful relaxation. He found that people shown vegetation scenes emitted more alpha waves than people shown either of the other scenes.
This evidence of the relaxing effects of plants was proved as well in a University of Delaware study that measured people's muscular tension. Ulrich concludes that "Aesthetically pleasing interior environments (plants in your home/office) elicited a positive affective state (happiness, for those who can't handle medical-speak) that served as a buffer to stressful tasks and surroundings" (i.e., your work, your boss, your co-workers).
Additional research has shown that plant help to reduce mental fatigue. Stephen Kaplan of the University of Michigan says that mental fatigue comes from straining one's directed attention, this is the ability to force oneself to pay attention to something that is not particularly interesting (like that company meeting about memo structure). This fatigue can cause errors, irritability and/or rash, uncooperative behavior (you see, you're not to blame for being a creep).
Plants to the rescue!! They help people to "get away" and restore oneself from normal surroundings and they fascinate and attract people, breaking up the monotony and boredom created by forced attention. And the extra plus is that the excess oxygen helps perk you up too.
PLANTS MAKE YOUR SPACE MORE PLEASANT
Believe it or not, there is a great deal of research to support the fact that plants enhance the desirability of hanging out in an office. This is in contrast to the desirability you might have for your co-workers, which we're sure would be enhanced if they wore potted plants on their heads. Actually, that's not to far from the truth. Plants in offices have been proven to contribute to how we perceive the occupants of those spaces.
Students were asked what they thought of about the offices of college faculty. They were shown pictures of offices that were identical except for the presence or absence of various elements, including two aquariums and four plants. The students reported that they would feel more welcome and comfortable in the offices with plants and fish than in those without any living elements.
Additional studies were done using only plants (since, like you, they thought "People like fish!") These researchers built a simulated office in a climate-controlled chamber. The "office" was nicely decorated with wall paneling, pictures, carpeting and furniture. Four hanging plants and one table plant were installed. Test subject spent two hours in the chamber, with or without plants. The results showed that the plants did not affect the physical comfort of the subjects but they did influence what people thought about the room.
When plants were present people felt that the quality of the occupied space was significantly better than when no plants were present. So there you have it, proof positive that plants enhance life.
PLANTS PROMOTE GOOD VIBES
Plant life can have a significant effect upon what you "create" spiritually in your personal and business life. That is why plants play a large role in the practice of Feng Shui, the ancient art of placement
Potted plants add oxygen and negative ions to the atmosphere. This is significant because computers give off harmful positive ions that get gobbled up by the negative ones.
An office or home filled with well kept, overflowing, healthy plant life is a metaphor for our own abundance. It suggests that you can create abundance in whatever manner you're trying to manifest it - business success, love, etc.
But remember, wild, unpruned hanging plants and creeping vines will appear as intruders unless kept under control.
Cacti and other sharply pointed plants (or leaves) need a lot of room so that they don't create a cutting energy that pierces the psyche of the person nearby (Ouch.) These plants in confined spaces can create an subconscious wave of anxiety and Lord knows you've got enough anxiety dealing with your boss.
Stimulation of any sort tends to elicit and ignite change. You can bring this stimulation into your indoor work garden with the use of chimes, fountains and/or mobiles to create change in the direction you want (i.e. more business success, more love, etc.) In addition, some kind of water symbols such as a geode with a wavy pattern, a black stone or a bowl of water represents inner determination and can be place in the center of your "garden".
A good thing to keep in mind as well is that bright red or magenta colored flowers help to spark mental, emotional and spiritual clarity. So when you have to get that report done, stare at a rose for a few minutes first.