Bringing The Outdoors In – Plants In The Home

Looking for a quick way to improve the way your home looks and feels while also improving your health? The answer could be as close as your local plant shop. Numerous studies during the past few decades have underscored the amazing benefits that can be derived from adding plants to homes, and in return, all plants want is a little water, an occasional feeding and lots of natural light.

Here’s a quick rundown of four of the most amazing benefits houseplants can offer:

1. They increase the oxygen in your home. Unlike animals that inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, plants do just the opposite, taking in carbon dioxide to aid in photosynthesis and releasing oxygen to the air around them. Adding plants helps boost the level of pure oxygen in your home so you can enjoy the health advantages associated with oxygen intake.
2. They prevent room air from becoming too dry. Plants don’t just release oxygen – they also release tiny amounts of water vapour through a process called transpiration. In turn, transpiration raises the humidity of the surrounding air, which can be especially important during the dry months of the year. Not only can increased humidity levels make your home feel more comfortable, studies have shown increasing humidity indoors can help prevent the transmission of cold and flu viruses, and it can also help reduce the incidence of sore throats, dry coughs and other signs and symptoms of illness.
3. They keep the air cleaner. Both the leaves and roots of houseplants act as filters to trap indoor pollutants that can be harmful to health. According to a study by the U.S. space agency NASA, “Both plant leaves and roots are utilized in removing trace levels of toxic vapours from inside tightly sealed buildings. Low levels of chemicals such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde can be removed from indoor environments by plant leaves alone.”
4. They help you heal. In fact, there’s a whole type of therapy surrounding the care of plants – horticulture therapy. Studies have shown caring for plants helps reduce blood pressure and promote a feeling of well-being, as well as faster recovery time from illness or surgery.

Of course, in order to thrive and provide you with all these amazing benefits, plants need light – natural light – and that means most of their benefits will be restricted to spaces with lots of windows while dimmer areas and spots located a good distance from windows won’t receive the advantages plants can bring.

There is a solution: Adding a Solatube skylight to your home lets you bring in natural sunlight wherever it’s needed, and that means not only can you enjoy more sunshine, but your plants can too. Plus, since sunshine has also been shown to improve health, adding a skylight in addition to plants is a great way to give colds, flu and other sicknesses a one-two punch to help keep them at bay.

Solatube skylights are easy to install, and their advanced design means you don’t have to worry about leaks or maintenance issues. To learn more about Solatube skylights, call 13 16 19 today and find the dealer nearest you.