Summer is encroaching. While this season is for vacations, holidays, and general easy, breezy livin', it is also the time of year when we Arizonans hunker down indoors. We close the windows and the shutters and live off A/C until October. I hate living off A/C for many reasons, but one is the terrible air quality that starts circulating, and then re-circulating through the house. Many indoor air toxins are potential carcinogens, and the closed up house and A/C pushes them from room to room.
What's a girl to do? House plants. That's it. Well, that's not it, but it's a start! House plants gobble up toxins up for breakfast. While I don't want to be paranoid, I will do the simplest thing I can, and that is let the plants do some of the heavy lifting.
Spider Plant
This little baby loves sunshine and makes more little babies when treated well. My mom gave me my first one when I moved into my first apartment, and it has moved with me ever since! We've seen our ups and downs, but it's thriving again in my bedroom window.
Removes: Formaldehyde (found in car emissions, pressed wood, and other building materials) and benzene (found in plastics, lubricants, rubbers, dyes, detergents, drugs, gasoline/emissions, and pesticides).
Golden Pothos
Another plant that swings around our house as well as my childhood homes. This plant is practically unkillable. So if you don't have a green thumb, get this one. It tells you when it's unhappy, and you can easily re-root the trimmings. Given the toxins it removes from the air, I put one in our entry way and near the garage.
Removes: Formaldehyde, carbon monoxide (car emissions, stoves, lanterns, fireplaces), and benzene.
Snake Plant
My son and I recently planted this new addition to our house. I have known of its crazy nightlife for a while, and I am super stoked to have it as an addition to our air purifiers. This plant does its work while we are snoozing, improving oxygen levels.
Removes: Carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, benzene.
Boston Fern
We received a sprig of this plant from my mother-in-law, who received it from her mother, who inherited it from her mother. This is a fourth generation fern. Oh the pressure! I finally have this fern in a place where it can be happy! It needs high moisture and humidity, of which Arizona has neither. This one takes a little more care, but it also takes care of us.
Removes: Formaldehyde
Lady Palm
This is a slow-growing corner charmer of a plant. It needs a little more real estate, but it can be a show stopper once it gets going.
Removes: Ammonia (found in house cleaning products, fertilizers, fabric dyes, and latex).
Peace Lily
This lovely, large plant doesn't require a lot of light and makes the most beautiful flowers. Use caution when choosing this plant, it is poisonous to animals, causing difficulty breathing, swallowing, and vomiting.
Removes: Acetone (found in nail polish remover, paint thinner, varnishes, plastics, and cleaning products) and Benzene.
There are many more plants that do good work in your home, and you can certainly find one that fits your decor. Plants also earn their keep making a house feel like a home, and I often dispose of un-drunk water into their pots as to not waste!
I am hoping to start adding more plants for the summer and have a few Golden Pothos rooting right now. What plants do you keep in your home?
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