We need a trillion more indoor plants.

Michaelangelica · April 15, 2008

Hi all,

I use Chloriphytum (spiser plant) to tell if there are any palutants from the natural gas heating sysem.

How does that work pls?

Flapjack · April 15, 2008

CHlorophytum (spider plant) has variegated foliage with soft the cell leaves. If the air contains impurity build up, then the cell structure easily damages and dies leaving brown marks on the leaves. If the atmosphere is too dry as in a centrally heated home the leaf tips go brown. Strange as it may seem in this day and age we do not have central heating in our home.

Flapjack · April 15, 2008

We also need trillions of outdoor plants in particular trees. since man first appeared we have chopped down trees. We have now come to the point when the trees that are left cannot absorb our carbon emitions. The trees are banks to store carbon in. It is a real sorry state when travelling overseas to see 500 year old logs on a trailer with the stamp on them from a sustainable forest. I wonder who 500 years ago thought about us a planted some trees.

Ganoderma · April 21, 2008

here in taiwan things are starting to green up a lot. its getting more and more "trendy" i guess.

anyway i want to mention a plant that is GREAT indoors.

even Mcdonalds grows these thigns in their bathrooms with NO windows, only 4 CFL bulbs!!!!

Money tree. Pachira

these things are truly amazing! they can take TINY pots in comparison to their large foliage. Low light is ok, water like any other grocery store type plant.

many people here buy them braided or in lame red boats for lucky this and that, but they are quite hardy.

the biggest plus is because their foliage has fairly large surface area, it must breath a good deal through the day!

we are putting them in out home and school, makes things nicer looking and they actually grow well.....this means no rotation....

johnfp · April 21, 2008

I have always loved house plant. We have many. In fact during the winter out house gets a little crowded from bringing them all in. Without going into to much detail, I will tell you that it takes about 15 gallons of water per week to water them...

The spider plant also gets rid of hazardous man made chemicals from rugs, furniture, et. We have spider plants, palms, ferns, cacti and lots of others. In the spring summer and fall when the weather in nice we put them outside and they love it. It makes our patio look very tropical. When we have to close the house up we bring them in. They look nice, give off oxygen, take in pollutants, put moisture in the air all while out house has to be bottled up air tight for maximum heating efficiency.

There are quite a few plants that do not need direct sunlight. We have a spider plant growing upstairs in a window that is on the shady side of the house. No direct sunlight at all. You just need to be aware it will need less water.

About 3 months ago my sister found a praying manis cocoon in her house and it hatched lots of the little buggers. She brought about 20 over to my house and I simply let them free on the plants in our "sun" room that houses quite a few of our plants. I felt bad keeping them in a box and they were to tiny, I couldn't find food for them. I have not seen any alive but it would be nice if a few of them made it. Still keeping an eye out for them. :)

Michaelangelica · April 24, 2008

here in taiwan things are starting to green up a lot. its getting more and more "trendy" i guess.

anyway i want to mention a plant that is GREAT indoors.

even Mcdonalds grows these thigns in their bathrooms with NO windows, only 4 CFL bulbs!!!!

Money tree. Pachira
...

they look nice

How much light do they need. how fast do they grow How big?

there is a water vesion too?aquatica Does that mean it might do for my indoor pond?

I just put an illegal Water Hyacinth in it. I am sure it could live on the moon.

Ganoderma · April 29, 2008

they do best here in full to partial sun. they will live in any light, even window sil light. there is a Mcdonalds here that has some small potted ones in their bathroom. The entire bathroom has only 3 CFL (i think around 30 watts each, tops). teh plants are abotu 3 meters away...no windows....they are not doing great, but they live and grow slowly...which means offices would be great places for them!

they can grow into trees. they can be grown in EXTREMELY small pots! many peopel here have teh 3 or 4 braided one slike pictured above. a 2 meter plant often only has a 12" pot!

small pots

water hardy (too much/little is all ok)

all lighting

feeding when you remember

i think this is a great candidate for indoor office type plants. best thing since orchids if you ask me :eek:

i am planting a lot for our home. there are a few trees by us flowering so i am just waiting for the seeds to develop :(

Michaelangelica · May 19, 2008

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/05/16/how-to-fight-indoor-air-pollution-with-plants/

GOOD 010 - Marketplace - Plants, for Your Health

Interior plants apart from looking good have been proven to have significant health and wellbeing benefits. This is because of two major effects:

Physical - the cleaning, purification and conditioning of the air we breathe;

Psychological - the very presence of plants has been shown to increase positive feelings and reduce feelings of anxiety, anger and sadness.

There is a wealth of scientific study into the beneficial effects of plants in the interior environment including a large NASA programme. If you are interested in more detail refer to Redirect (run by NIGZ, the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention) for a comprehensive bibliography and further links.

The major health and wellbeing benefits of interior plants include:

* · Absorption of harmful substances
* · Filtration of dust and dirt from the environment
* · Dampening of sound levels
* · Reduction of stress levels
* · Increased humidity levels
* · Cooling effect
* · Lifting of the general mood
* · Emission of oxygen refreshing the air

These benefits are important in achieving a good and healthy indoor climate in the artificial environment of the workplace as well as the home. These effects may be particularly helpful for respiratory and allergic conditions.

Our Top 10 Plants For Cleaner, Fresher Air:

Health benifits and Air cleaning of indoor and house plants

A source of propaganda you can post around the office.

Healthy green at Work | Welcome on the campaign site of Healthy Plants in the Workplace

Material

The information campaign Healthy Plants in the Workplace includes a general leaflet, a leaflet for employees, a 7-step plan for employers and a poster. You can download these materials through this website (see the link at the bottom of this page). Below we present an overview of the materials with a short description.

Feeling at home in the workplace: the advantages of plants in the office
General information leaflet about the health effects of plants in the workplace. This brochure is available in English, German, French, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Dutch.
Leaflet
A leaflet especially for employees about the health benefits of plants in the workplace.
Poster
Recurrent headaches? Burning eyes? Dry throat? Plants improve your working environment?

Healthy green at Work | Articles

Ganoderma · May 21, 2008

i just put 12 new money trees in my house/school. maybe the students will be smarter? lol.

freeztar · May 21, 2008

i just put 12 new money trees in my house/school. maybe the students will be smarter? lol.

If nothing else, they'll be richer! :hihi:

Michaelangelica · May 21, 2008

i just put 12 new money trees in my house/school. maybe the students will be smarter? lol.

Don't laugh it could be true!

At the very least they will be breathing in less crap from polluted air.

O, I just 'got" freeztars' post- groan :hihi:

How about all you science teachers out there get your students to do a project/essay/experiment on/using indoor plants? Raise some awareness.

Michaelangelica · May 21, 2008

Don't laugh it could be true!
At the very least they will be breathing in less crap from polluted air.

O, I just 'got" freeztars' post- groan :hihi:

How about all you science teachers out there get your students to do a project/essay/experiment on/using indoor plants? Raise some awareness.

i just spent five minutes with google scholar accessioning years of research on children's IQ and pollutants. I posted it all then the computer disconnected from the web

I have just spent an hour working out that it was upset because the speaker wasn't plugged in. Groan again:doh:

Why don't we have smarter computers:confused:.

Quite a big PDF file on pollutants in Jakarta, attached to this brief summary

For example, if annual concentrations of particulate matter were reduced to the midpoint of the World Health Organisation guideline (and former U.S. ambient standard), the estimates indicate a reduction per year of 1,400 premature deaths (with a range of 900 to 1,900), 49,000 emergency room visits, 600,000 asthma attacks, 7.6 million restricted activity days (including work loss), 124,000 cases of bronchitis in children, and 37 million minor respiratory symptoms.
In the case of Jakarta, the methodology suggests that reducing exposure to lead and nitrogen dioxide should also be a high priority.

Estimating the health effects of air pollutants : a method with an application to Jakarta

What's the deal with nitrogen dioxide?

It has popped up on the Terra preta forums too or is that N2O?

Another excellent article

Children's Environmental Health: Risks and Remedies - Population Reference Bureau

This shows the effects of VERY bad pollution, still , does anyone really know what is a safe level for a growing brain?

It seems, if nothing else, plants will probably result in less childhood sickness and time off school so this will effect their learning and IQ scores based on general knowledge.

leaded petrol is still a big problem in many countries. Is there any research around that shows plants remove lead from the air?

Lead Exposure to lead remains the main environmental problem for young children in developing countries, according to Environmental Defense and the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.28 Even small amounts of lead can be dangerous, especially for the development of the brain: Studies have shown that IQ falls by up to six points for every 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (µg/dl). Lead exposure can also cause anemia, kidney disease, hearing damage, and impaired fertility; at high levels, it can result in coma or death.2

some more stuff on IQ and indoor pollution

Exposure to PCB 153 in Vitro and in Vivo

A rodent study by Hussain et al. (p. 827) showed that long-term potentiation in the brain, believed to be correlated with learning ability, was reduced after exposure to PCB 153. The authors suggest that this mechanism may explain the reduction of IQ in humans exposed to PCBs early in development. (Also see Science Selections, p. A416)

Environ Health Perspect 108-9, 2000: In This Issue

Abstract
Psychological and toxic effects of air pollution can lead to psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and changes in mood, cognition, and behavior.

Elsevier Article Locator

Since 1952 an avalanche of scientific research has
provided independently validated, confirmatory
evidence on the adverse health effects of fine
particles and noxious gases in the air. The quality of
air is deteriorating in many cities, due to uncontrolled
urbanisation, industrialisation, and motorization. The
World Health Organization attributes 150,000
premature deaths to outdoor air pollution each year,
with lung cancer increasing by 8%, cardiovascular
disease by 6% and all case mortality by 4%3. Even
more staggering is the global scale estimate of 2.5
million deaths each year due to indoor air pollution.
Despite these figures, indoor pollution remains a
neglected area in most developing countries4.

http://www.srilankacollegeofpaediatricians.com/pubs/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20C%20C%20de%20Silva%20oration%20The%20air%20we%20breathe%20is%20it%20safe%20for%20children%20.pdf

Some general stuff

How can you check Radon levels? How come it is indoors?

National Center for Environmental Health: Healthy Housing Reference Manual - Chapter 5: Indoor Air Pollutants and Toxic Materials | CDC

Do plants help?

My daughter just sent me this-

This story made me smile - huzzah, nature one, councils nil!
Further tunnelling to allow for the Lutwyche Rd tree - known locally as Pop's Fig - along with design changes to stations and connections were blamed for the cost increase. An exact price for preserving the tree, likely to be several million dollars, could not be obtained last night.
City's most expensive fig tree adds millions to busway | The Courier-Mail

Ganoderma · May 22, 2008

put a plant by your computer...maybe it will work? less dust to clog the (whatever-the-hell-is-making-that-sound-thing)?

but ya, i have read some of your posts in other threads about better work performance etc with cleaner air. so who knows.....that said, both sides of our school are OPEN and a huge breeze blows through all the time. if nothing else it gives them something new to break :phones:

i think raising awareness is a great thing to do! we do this in our school. respecting animals, recycling basically simple environmental stuff. unfortunately, around these parts, environment is WAY down the list of priorities to people :( but things like solar and wind power are quickly gaining in popularity!

pigeon_soup · May 22, 2008

This is undoubtedly a stupid question but, what is a VOC?

pigeon

Ganoderma · May 23, 2008

Volatile organic compound

Michaelangelica · May 24, 2008

i think raising awareness is a great thing to do! we do this in our school. respecting animals, !

yes we have lost our connection with the natural world and see it as threatening. when in fact, the oposite is true.

Up to 24,000 deaths a year in California are linked to air pollution
. . .
The revised figures are based on a review of new research across the nation about the hazards posed by microscopic particles, which sink deep into the lungs.

"Our report concludes these particles are 70% more dangerous than previously thought, based on several major studies

Up to 24,000 deaths a year in California are linked to air pollution - Los Angeles Times