It would appear there is a dizzying amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in all of our households, at any one given time, and many of these are already known carcinogens or are linked to serious health problems - see my last article which looked at the different types of pollution that can be found indoors. 

Opening a window offers an immediate source of fresh air which outpaces the benefits that a plant can bring - but how often do we do this? (Natural air exchange is vital for health so do build it into your routine when you can!). But there are days when we forgot to give ourselves that blast of fresh air so plants have become vital for our indoor areas.

House plants first became popular in the 19th century as air pollution and dust increased due to the industrial revolution. The upper and middle classes of that period, tended to have disposable incomes, and so were able to address this issue by bringing potted plants into their home. There was an understanding that plants would help capture the bad particles in the air and bring a sense of well-being, increasing people’s health. During the early 20th century, people’s homes were particularly polluted by the burning of gas fires. The fern and aspidistra became the most popular plants at that time as they seemed to be able to cope with the indoor pollution.

Since then our homes and the ways in which we live have changed quite dramatically, however, with all the advancement in technology and ‘better’ living, we seem to have unsuspectingly added to our indoor air pollution. In 1989, NASA conducted a Clean Air study on a variety of houseplants. There is some conjecture over the usefulness of this study as it was carried out under rather controlled conditions. What it did prove is that plants do help clean our air - we just need a high number of them in each room to be particularly effective. But I believe it is better to have them than not. Having any kind of greenery is a boost to both health and well-being - and if you are renting long-term and are unable to decorate, plants can really add that wow-factor! Plus plants are portable and if nurtured well can live for many years. I still have my very first plant I bought for my first flat in London all those moons ago.

So based on the types of potential VOCs that can be found in the air of each room in a typical home, I have chosen one plant type that will benefit that particular space:

So those are my top five.

A study taken by the Royal Horticultural Society found that nearly three quarters (72%) of adults had a houseplant in their home, rising to 4 out of 5 (80%) of 16 - 24 years olds.

Plants are such a good investment to have in your home and besides helping to clean your air, they can add interest to a space, be a talking point, fill a nook, dress a window or just simply merge into the background and create an aura of peacefulness and calm.

It is worth exploring the exciting array of house plants and contemporary planters now available.

Did you know that on Instagram there were 7.2m posts with the hashtag #houseplant when I looked this morning! (Aug ‘21)

There are so many more household beauties out there. Happy plant shopping.
Zoë, Beautiful Healthy Home x

Images: peace lily image © Max Williams via Unsplash, snake plant image © Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash , dragon plant image © Severin Candrian via Unsplash, parlour plant image © Elena Kloppenburg, ivy image © beautiful healthy home ltd, thumbnail image © Annie Spratt via Unsplash

This blog, website and its content are copyright of Beautiful Healthy Home Ltd - © Beautiful Healthy Home Ltd 2021. All rights reserved.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than you may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only

You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.