I’m a big proponent of growing plants indoors, especially of the herbal variety. But there are more benefits to keeping plants indoors than just a pretty view or even as an addition to your favorite healthy meal if we are talking about herbs. For example, plants are known to clean the air and create oxygen, and the more of them you have, the cleaner your air space is.

How it Works

When we breathe, we breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants need this to make sugar for food along with light and water. But the cool part is that they take our carbon dioxide, which is not suitable for us, at high levels, and they eat it up and deliver it back into the environment as oxygen!

There aren’t any air filtration systems that can do that! Additionally, the University of Birmingham found that plants can clean other toxins out of the air, specifically nitrogen dioxide. And researchers believe that an increase in the number of plants will also increase the levels of air filtration.

Another study touted since 1989 done by NASA shows that indoor plants also remove cancer-causing toxins like formaldehyde and benzene out of the air and that the soil itself may play a part in it.

How Many Plants Do You Need?

The number of plants needed to clean the air has been highly debated, but the consensus seems to be that the bigger and leafier a plant is, the more purification power it has. But in general, you want two plants for every 100 square feet. But some studies suggest that even just one plant in an average room may increase air quality by 25%. Those are some pretty impressive numbers if you ask me.

The takeaway… get yourself some plants and enjoy clean air, beautiful surroundings, and overall better health.

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