A Simple Solution to Indoor Pollution

In this day and age of technological solutions to everything, of course there's a high tech solution to high tech pollution! I mean the pollution that your carpeting and furniture creates and the stuff that spews out from your cleaning potions and your facial tissues. Detergents, particle board and medicines contain some of the most dangerous chemicals we know of. Once loosed in our homes, they flow through and through and back through our enclosed heating and cooling systems and right into our bodies as we breath.

As a matter of fact, the indoor environment in almost any home is very stressful to the human body. We do what we can - we plug in humidifiers, dehumidifiers, purifiers and ionizers and we use air filters on air conditioners and heaters. And yet, our homes are not healthy.

It's not a matter of "do we need a solution," but which solution is best? You can buy electronic air modifiers (and some with exorbitant claims) just about anywhere... but here's a riddle: How much pollution does an electronic modifier cause?

Are they worth the money? Probably not.

Air outside of our homes, while probably polluted, too, has one great advantage over air inside our homes: Nature constantly works its balancing act with it. To be more pointed, pollution from air is constantly being removed by plants. When pollution is at a greater level than plants can absorb, then we have trouble.

Now, translate that into your own home environment. The Associated Landscape Contractors of America, along with NASA, did a two year study to prove it. Plants clean air no matter where they are. Eighty - seven percent of all air pollution can be cleaned up by plants under the right circumstances. Have you ever looked for those statistics on an air purifier? (They're not there.)

Besides cleaning up the air, plants are cheaper to attain and they're quieter. They're prettier, too and they will usually outlast any air purifier. And they're cheaper to operate. And they're not so specialized that you need three different ones for three different purposes.

Plants absorb chemicals from the air, but they also automatically balance humidity and decrease the amount of carbon dioxide, increasing available oxygen.

Allergies? Not to worry. Just don't use the ones that bother you. Any houseplant will clean the air and more, so you have lots to choose from. However, the ones that are most effective are dracaenas, palms, ferns, English ivy, peace lilies, mums, daisies and spider plants.

Those "right circumstances" I mentioned are about one plant for 100 square feet of living space. Plant them in a loose growing medium and don't overwater. Soil microbes actually feed on the chemicals the plant will pull from the air. Formadehyde, tetrachoride and benzene, especially, will be eliminated altogether once these hungry little devourers go to work.

If you're ready to fill your home with plants, think about ways to obtain them besides spending a couple of hundred dollars down at the local nursery!

Lots of times, stores will throw out plants that are wilting or torn up. They can usually be revived with a little tender loving care - water, feed, moderate temperatures and sunshine. If you're not into dumpster diving, ask about them when you see them. Other ways to get plants include asking for cuttings from friends and family (and strangers, if you're up to it). Or simply ask for plants for your birthday or other occasion. You can transplant or grow wild plants from seed in some areas, but be sure to check first. Some areas will prosecute you for harvesting root, plant or seed.

Learn to propogate the plants you get and you'll soon have a house full of them, and you can breath better!

Are you still not totally convinced you need to worry about the quality of air in your home? Maybe not... if you don't use paper towels, facial tissues, dish detergent, floor wax, permanent press fabrics, natural gas, bleached (white) writing paper, ink, plastic, dyes, paint, plastic bags, paper bags and wax paper, among other things.

If you use any of those things, a green plant here and there will help your home be as healthy as possible for as little cash as possible, and look nice doing it, too.