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Grow these 3 indoor plants for fresh air!

Team StoryWeavers|June 08, 2022, 08:54 IST| 23

India’s air pollution has been making headlines for the past few years now. It’s no surprise when our capital ranks number 1 in the list of world’s most polluted cities in the World Air Quality Report. Unfortunately, not just Delhi, but 21 out of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are from India! While the reasons may vary from crop burning to fuel emission from vehicles, one thing is clear: the need to purify the air around us. 

What if we told you that the task of purifying air could be done from the comfort of your homes? Surprised? Read on to know how you could play an important role in this task.

Way back in 1989, NASA did research on this subject. Recently, similar research was taken up by IIT- Kanpur, where they collected common indoor plants (Bamboo palm, Chinese evergreen, English ivy, ficus, Gerbera daisy, Peace lily, Pot mum and others) and put them in a chamber. Then, they pumped in some harmful gases like Benzene, Trichloroethylene, and Formaldehydes. After 24 hours, when they checked the air quality in the chamber, some plants were able to remove up to 90% of these harmful gases.

Know these pollutants:

Benzene:  A highly flammable liquid with a distinguished odor, benzene is volatile, clear, and colorless in nature. High concentrations of benzene are found indoors as a result of burning coal, wood, kerosene, or LPG cylinders. Commonly used as a solvent, benzene is present in household items like cigarettes, inks, oils, paints, plastics, detergents, and rubber. 

Formaldehyde: A colorless, strong-smelling gas, formaldehyde is used in products like cigarettes, toothpaste, soft drinks, and shampoos. When combined with urea, the resultant, urea-formaldehyde resins are used in consumer paper products, including grocery bags, waxed papers, facial tissue papers, and paper towels. These resins are also used as stiffeners, wrinkle resisters, water repellants, fire retardants, and adhesive binders in floor-covering, carpet backing, and permanent-press clothes. 

Trichloroethylene (TCE): A manmade chemical, TCE is a colorless, volatile liquid used as a solvent. TCE is also found in adhesives, printing inks, spot removers, carpet-cleaning fluids, metal cleaners, dry cleaning agents, paints, and varnishes. 

 

Now, that we know the common air pollutants, let’s talk about three indoor plants that are easy to maintain and can effectively purify the air. Unlike rare flowers some of these plants are fairly common!

1. Areca Palm aka Chrysalidocarpus lutescens 

Also known as Butterfly Palm, the Areca Palm is highly effective in removing toluene and xylene from the air. Research suggests that a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) Areca Palm will transpire one liter of water in a day, making it a great humidifier. It is advisable to keep four shoulder-high Areca Palm plants as they purify air enough for one adult. 

Care Tip: Don’t overwater the plan. Wipe the leaves with a wet cloth if you see any infestation growing on them.

2. Snake Plant aka Sansevieria trifasciata 

This beautiful yellow-tipped succulent, also known as Mother-in-law’s Tongue, is usually kept in bedroom spaces as it releases oxygen at night. This also helps people sleep better. The leaves of this plant have a large surface area, which helps in detoxifying the air. Keeping six to eight waist-high Snake Plants will purify the air needed for one adult.  

Care Tip: Don’t overwater this plant as the roots are prone to rot in moist soil.  

3. Money Plant aka Epipremnum aureum 

One of the easiest plants to grow, Money Plant, also known as Devil’s Ivy, cleans the air of toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and benzene. This plant can grow with just water! They don’t even need a lot of sunlight. With a high survival rate, this plant is great for decorative purposes as well!

Care Tip: The easiest way to grow a Money Plant is to cut off an existing stalk and plant it in a new pot.

Let’s start the process of detoxifying the air in our homes with these three green heroes. Did you know that 2020 has been declared as the International Year of Plant Health by the UN General Assembly? Do share with us in the comments if you found this article helpful. If you are a fan of plants then here is a post on some interesting facts about plants.

Liked this story? Learn more about plants from these articles:

One flower with all the colors – DIY Rainbow Flower

Plants are smarter than you think

Talks of the mother tree and baby trees

About the Author


Charu, a feminist and an accidental writer, is yet to master the art of writing about herself. Always curious to learn new stuff, she ends up spending a lot of time unlearning the incorrect lessons. She enjoys all sorts of stories – real, fictional, new, old, hers and would love hearing yours too. Feel free to ping her at storyweavers@byjus.com to share anything that you think is worth sharing.

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Comments



Utsav Choudhary

August 8, 2020

Excellent
But I think you should tell more about other environmental friendly miraculous plants !


Bavashika

August 7, 2020

True. Let us plant trees for us and for our generation . Plant trees and plant lives.


Anshika Nayak ?

July 21, 2020

We have a money plant , and these 2


Harshita Singh

June 27, 2020

My mother loves plant. You didn’t know my mother plant all plant near my house


Maitrayee Mishra

June 4, 2020

I know these plants very well but i didn’t know their purifying uses before . Thats really awsome, affective and beautiful plus detoxifying plants????️???? awsome?. I will say my mother and father to gift one of these plants on my birthday. I will take care of it??


Gaurya Naik

June 4, 2020

Nice indoor plants.I will try to keep them


Aasrita

May 26, 2020

We have 2 species of snake plant, very long money plant and 1 areca palm in our home????


DIGANTH

April 22, 2020

It’s great


Charmi

April 21, 2020

Gardening is one of my hobby ???☘️??????????


Vignesh

April 7, 2020

Plants not only give us air to breathe.I have grown 10-15 plants
??☘️???????? and you are right


Anushka dadhich

March 23, 2020

Gorgeous!!???? Good to me!!!


Anushka dadhich

March 23, 2020

Gorgeous!!????


Prerana Kubal

March 17, 2020

Plants give us oxygen, food ,water, shelter etc. They can also remove unclean air also??
Wow !!! Amazing nature’s gifts


Hardik sharma

March 15, 2020

I my home, we have 2 plants from above
1. Snake plant
And
2. Money plant (in more than 5 pots)


Md Zaman

March 14, 2020

I like the idea .And I love them so much.?☘️???


Shraddha

March 13, 2020

It’s awesome


Disha Verma

March 13, 2020

Its awesome!!☺️


Geeta Roy Nongrum

March 13, 2020

Plants not only purify the air but they also beautify the entire surrounding.


Swastika

March 12, 2020

Natural Air Filters!??☘️?????
And decorative too!!!?????️???


Trrishan Saha

March 12, 2020

Wow!


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