Natural Indoor Air Purifiers

An average human being can survive without food for a few weeks, without water for a few days, and without air-you know how long.

If you are still not sure, you may find it out by trying to hold your breath for as long as you can. Yes, just seconds or a minute or two.
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We start breathing from the very first moment we appear in this world, and stop it at the very last moment. During a lifetime an average human being breathes in air (without any special breathing technique) for around 500 million times! And at least 150 million of these breaths are taken in our own homes.

 

While we are not always able to control the air quality outdoors, there are some steps we can easily take to keep our home (bedroom) air clean, such as airing the rooms every morning, keeping the rooms and the furniture dust-free, keeping the kitchen and bathroom doors shut all the time etc. But there is one very important thing we can do to produce our own clean air in our homes without much efforts, we can grow houseplants, which is sometimes called indoor gardening.

Green houseplants are mini oxygen factories that relentlessly produce oxygen, utilizing the useless and even harmful carbon dioxide (waste material of our body cells) which we breathe out.

The chemicals

 

But this is not all. The houseplants also absorb benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene, chemicals commonly found in newly decorated homes. There are also found in new furniture, carpers and even in a new computer or TV set.

Also think about all those chemicals found in perfume, air fresheners, soap, shampoo, washing powder, printers, cooking smoke, and many, many more. There are 17,000 chemicals, commonly found in most homes. They can damage our kidneys, liver, nervous system, mucous membranes and many of them are carcinogens.

They are practically everywhere but many people don’t realize how toxic they can be and how important it is for us to reduce our exposure to those chemicals, especially in winter when we keep our windows closed. That is called indoor air pollution. We can’t let it happen in our homes. Outdoor pollution is more than enough. According to The NASA Clean Air 2-year study, certain common indoor plants may provide a natural way of removing toxic agents such as benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene from the air, helping neutralize the effects of sick building syndrome.

 

The Plants

 

Here comes the list of 10 most aggressive air filters. I am sure you have seen them on different occasions and some of you even have them in your homes. If you don’t - you can buy them in Zhengzhou New Flower City which is on the way to the Yellow River in Tian He Road. It is a bit farther than the old one in Guo Ji Road, but it is much cheaper, less crowded and you have lots of choices of fresh and healthy plants to take to your home.

This list is not the whole story, of course. Actually, any green plant in your home will not only provide fresh air in your home for you and your loved ones but also detoxify and nicely decorate it, relieve your stress and make you feel the closeness of the nature.

I went to the Flower Market this afternoon to take a leisurely stroll there as usual and enjoyed the amazing beauty of the plants and flowers; in the meantime I took several photos for you so that whenever you decide to find a green friend, you can easily recognize them when you see them.

I also asked the sellers about the plants’ names in local Henan dialect which I have written under their botanical English and Latin names below for your convenience when shopping.

 

 

  

1.       Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)

 

金边吊兰 (jin bian diao lan)

 

 

 

 

  

 

2.      Golden pothos or devil's ivy

(Scindapsus aures orEpipremnum aureum) 

绿萝 (lv luo)

 

 

 

 

 

   

3.    Bamboo palm or reed palm (Chamaedoreasefritzii)

袖珍椰子 (xiu zhen ye zi)

 

  

 

 

 

  

4.    Snake plant or mother-in-law's tongue
(Sansevieria trifasciata'Laurentii')

虎皮兰 (hu pi lan)

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

5.   Heartleaf philodendron
(Philodendron oxycardium, syn.Philodendron cordatum)

心连心 (xin lian xin)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Selloum philodendron
(Philodendron bipinnatifidum, syn. Philodendron selloum)

春羽 (chun yu)

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 7.   Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)

滴水观音 (di shui guan yin)

 

 

 

 

 

8.    Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)

千年木 (qian nian mu)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.   Cornstalk dracaena
(Dracaena fragans'Massangeana')

      巴西木(ba xi mu)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.       Pot Mum or Florist's Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)

           万寿菊(wan shou ju)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMMENTS

Your name* Post Comment* Verification code*   ... 16 11, 12 06:01 posted by: Artur Nice to see you around, Artur reply 15 02, 13 14:02 posted by: Kallen I bought some plants recently, thanks for your detailed introduction, Artur. especially we are under gloomy and foggy weather recently in Zhengzhou..Indoor Plants can improve the air quality for us. Thanks again for your sharing~ reply 16 02, 13 07:57 posted by: Artur You are always welcome, Kallen. I am happy my post helped you make a better choice. Be well and healthy! reply