LIVE VS ARTIFICIAL PLANTS: The Real Ones Win

These days there is very little to choose between real or replica plants, visually at least. Artificial indoor plants are now high-quality products which look so lifelike you normally need to touch them to tell if they are real or not. Let’s examine the facts and figures to see how real plants compare to fake ones. Artificial plants look like the real thing, require no care on your part and can go anywhere, but why on earth would you chose a live indoor plant? It’s obvious as in most areas of life, there is more to it than just looks.

Plants Increase Oxygen: We are looking here on the best gift that we have on Earth, which gives us the oxygen to breathe. The main fact that the live plants do pump fresh oxygen indoors to enhance the indoor air quality. When you have natural plants indoor you get air replenished each day. Just that plants should not be kept in the bedroom as they release Carbon dioxide at night.

Plants Purify Indoor Air: Plants Remove Airborne Contaminates indoors. NASA clean air study have listed many plants which are capable of removing toxic pollutants from air so that you breathe fresh air indoors. Our indoor environments are filled with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are off-gassed chemicals from industrial cleaners, beauty products, and building materials such as carpet and paint. VOCs permeate the air, contributing to poor indoor air quality and serious health effects such as asthma and cancer. Most plants have a natural filtration system that removes air pollutants (e.g., ammonia, formaldehyde, and benzene) and produces cleaner air for us to breathe.

Natural Humidifier: They transpire and maintain humidity too. What’s more, plants in quite a number air conditions and sets the recommended levels of humidity for a healthy environment in offices and households. Plants save you from dry air which causes several diseases or may even trigger them. You can ward off various flu’s, sinusitis, asthma, itchy eyes, sore throat, extreme dry skin problems and headaches with them indoors.

Emotional Quotient: Moreover they are fresh and we care for them like a little one. So what we have with us is living green oxygen producing humidifier which is just like a friend to us. It always keeps growing with proper care and makes us realize that this life is too important. Let’s see more aspects to the real natural plants that we can never get from a non-living artificial contender.

Plants Improves Work Productivity: Most of us experience a fast-paced life, leading to more demands, stress, and anxiety—and the workplace is no exception. Research shows a correlation between work environments with poor ventilation and lower work productivity (Sick Building Syndrome) as well as stress factors in the workplace and decreased productivity. The same research revealed a positive upswing in mood, creativity, memory retention, problem-solving, and improved health when indoor plants were introduced in an office space.

Plants Promote Healing: A recent study shows that plants do indeed have therapeutic value. By simply looking at decorative plants in their hospital rooms, patients recovering from surgery were reported to have lower blood pressure and less pain, anxiety, and distress.

Plants are Biodegradable: Sustainable disposal of any product requires that its wastes return to the earth and are able to biodegrade.  Nature biodegrades everything it makes back into basic building blocks, so that new living things can be made from the old.  Every resource made by nature returns to nature - live plants are biodegradable. They go back to mother earth where they come from adding to it. Other non biodegradable items are to be recycled or reused else they cause plastic pollution. Nature has perfected this system - we just need to learn how to participate in it. This years theme for upcoming World Environment Day is "Beat Plastic Pollution". #WorldEnvironmentDay #BeatPlasticPollution

Health benefits would be number one reason for choosing a live office or houseplant instead of an artificial one. Study after study (including ones by NASA) has shown that plants can make us feel better. We are less stressed and ill, more productive and creative, stay longer and relax more when we are around plants. Now, some of these effects are from simply looking at plants, so artificial plants looks awesome, but they don’t grow and cannot clean our air.

Our indoor air contains many toxins, seeping out from machinery, soft furnishings and paints, to name a few. Live plants such as money plants, syngonium, anthurium, peacelily, spider plants, snake plants etc. are top choices for the indoor plants. These all impact on our health and general sense of wellbeing, but a few well-chosen and well-placed live indoor plants can clean our air of these toxins and improve the humidity levels in our room. Imagine the difference this can make particularly for the many people who are stuck indoors for most of the working day.

So, in short, there are myriads of benefits of live indoor plants. We encourage you to learn more about the plants that are effective living air purifiers. NASA conducted extensive research to find 18 of the best air-filtering plants. Some of the top plants they recommend to help remove airborne toxins and irritants include: the dwarf date palm, Boston fern, spider plant, bamboo palm, weeping fig, variegated snake plant, and cornstalk dracaena. Use at least one plant for every 100 square feet of your home or work space. Think about the best location for each indoor plant (e.g., bedroom, living room, lobby, or waiting area) to maximize the benefits of these air purifiers.

Taking care of and growing your plants also has therapeutic value. Doing so can create a sense of calm and relaxation. Don’t forget to take daily breaks outside to enjoy a garden, green space, or foliage. 

Whether indoors or outside, we encourage you to enjoy the health benefits and beauty that nature provides! We insist that you skip that plastic non live plants and embrace the living ones for the benefit of you and your family members. Nature has provided us with so much, we need to coexist with earth and give her back what we take. Take a pledge to change the world for better!!

Author: Vandana Chaudhary