Live plants can improve our mood, bring color and texture to living spaces, enhance the atmosphere and — perhaps most importantly — improve indoor air quality.
Their ability to remove volatile organic compounds from the air, to absorb carbon dioxide and to release oxygen makes our homes healthier and has been shown to increase productivity and cognitive function in the work place.
The National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) published the NASA Clean Air Study in 1989, which was largely responsible for the move towards using specific types of plants to create healthier, more productive work spaces and to improve residential air quality.
With the increasing awareness of just how hard our houseplants work to keep our air clean as they beautify our homes, it was only a matter of time before someone came along and designated one day each year for all of us to show our appreciation for the houseplants that bring so many benefits to our lives.
Origin of Houseplant Appreciation Day
While people have enjoyed the benefits of houseplants throughout history, Houseplant Appreciation Day is a modern concept.
We can thank Bob Matthews of The Gardener’s Network for helping us set aside one day each year for celebrating our houseplants and the benefits they bring to our lives.
Each year, this special day falls on January 10th.
This particular day was chosen because it is after the holiday season and falls right around the time when most of us are finally putting away the last box of Christmas decorations and coming up for air after a long and busy holiday season.
Since it is quite common to neglect our houseplants during this busy time of the year, Houseplant Appreciation Day acts as a reminder to get back on track and take care of these plants that work so hard to take care of us.
Why We Should Appreciate Our Houseplants
While January 10th might be a day set aside for appreciating houseplants, we really should be caring for them and celebrating them throughout the year.
The problem is that most of us pay a lot of attention to our outdoor landscaping and very little to the plants we keep indoors.
This may be because we want our landscaping to always look its best when guests arrive or neighbors drive by, or perhaps it is because we notice our outdoor plants when relaxing outside but do not notice indoor plants as much as we hurry past them to finish chores or get ready for work.
Outdoor plants help us create inviting outdoor living spaces by adding color, texture and natural decor for our families and guests to enjoy.
However, our indoor plants can play an even more important role in our lives due to their ability to clean the air.
When we hear about pollution on the news, they are usually talking about smog levels and outdoor air quality, but the air in our homes and offices is usually far more polluted than the air outdoors.
For those of us who spend most of our time indoors, poor indoor air quality is an even bigger issue and one that can be detrimental to our health.
Houseplants can play a central role in reducing indoor air pollution while also beautifying our home and creating a more relaxing atmosphere.
The NASA Clean Air Study is perhaps the most well-known body of evidence supporting the use of houseplants to improve indoor air quality.
NASA’s study focused on effective ways to clean the air in space stations, but their findings have changed the way we look at houseplants and their effectiveness in cleaning the air in our homes.
It is common knowledge that plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen.
It is less well known that they also increase humidity and reduce the amount of airborne microbes floating around in our homes and offices.
Studies have also shown that houseplants remove ammonia, trichloroethylene and other volatile organic compounds that are detrimental to our health, including tuolene, benzene, xylene.
Some organic compounds, such as formaldehyde, are recognized by the US National Toxicology Program as human carcinogens.
Formaldehyde is commonly found in indoor air but also can be reduced by including houseplants in your interior design.
In fact, while only some of the plants included in NASA’s study removed benzene or trichloroethylene, nearly all of them reduced the formaldehyde level in the air.
Due to the popularity of easy-to-grow air plants that do not require soil, it is important to note that microorganisms in the soil of houseplants do most of the work when it comes to removing volatile organic compounds from the air.
20 Ways to Celebrate Houseplant Appreciation Day
Now that we have a better understanding of the value of having houseplants and the benefits they bring to our lives, let’s look at some of the best ways to celebrate Houseplant Appreciation Day to the fullest.
1. Give your children a small houseplant to help them learn about caring for a living thing and to help clean the air in their bedroom.
2. Give houseplants to your coworkers, friends or neighbors to spread the houseplant love.
3. Give your current houseplants some extra love by giving them a time-release fertilizer that will help them thrive.
4. Take this time to give a little extra care to plants that were neglected over the holidays by making sure they are properly watered, pruned and placed to receive the amount of sunlight recommended for each type of plant.
5. Add houseplants to your outdoor living areas to add color and texture and to create a more relaxing environment.
6. Create a container garden on your patio to provide fresh herbs for cooking or blooms for decorating.
7. Add one or more hanging houseplants to your indoor or outdoor entertaining areas to help filter the air.
8. If you regularly have smokers in your home or at your outdoor dinner parties, strategically place a few houseplants to clean the air in smoking areas.
9. If you live in an area that freezes, consider moving some of your patio plants indoors until the weather warms up.
10. Give your plants a checkup to see if a little extra care is needed. This should include making sure they are not root bound, checking their soil pH, checking the soil and leaves for insects, and checking the plant for mold or fungus.
11. Show your plants how much you care by checking the chlorine level in your tap water. Too much chlorine is bad for your plants, so you may need to use filtered water or water collected in your rainwater barrels.
12. Start an indoor vertical garden. You can use air-cleaning plants that brighten the space, grow herbs, or even grow small vegetables and lettuces.
13. Start a backyard compost pile, which is a long-term way to show your plants some love as you turn your kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich mulch you can then add to their soil.
14. Start an indoor healing garden. Grow aloe, Echinacea, feverfew or peppermint in windowsill containers to make home remedies for your friends and family.
Here are two articles you might find helpful if you are interested in growing herbs:
5 Herbs You Can Grow to Make Herbal Health Remedies
Growing Herbs: Which Herbs and Home Remedies Can I Grow at Home?
15. Teach a friend or family member about the benefits of houseplants and how to grow an indoor garden.
16. Improve the overall health of your plants by gently cleaning the leaves with a damp cloth (a dry cloth is best for plants with hairy leaves). It is best to create a schedule to help you clean your plants every couple of months, which will help them more efficiently absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide.
17. Take cuttings from your houseplants and root them in water. This will provide you with new plants to add to your collection or to give as housewarming gifts or thank you gifts.
18. Offer to rescue an unhealthy houseplant from a friend’s house or business, and nurse it back to health.
19. Expand your houseplant family with a new variety that stretches your gardening skills and encourages you to learn how to care for a different type of plant.
20. Start a kitchen garden with cooking herbs that make great houseplants, such as basil or parsley.
Houseplants Pet Owners Should Avoid
Some of the most popular houseplants are not good choices for households with pets (or small children).
Some plants, such as aloe, are great to have around for their healing and air-cleaning qualities, but can cause mild symptoms (vomiting and diarrhea) when ingested by cats or dogs.
While some — like lilies — can cause kidney failure, others will simply cause a stomachache or irritate their mouths, but all unsafe plants should be removed from your house or kept out of the reach of children and pets just to be safe.
Here is a list of some of the poisonous plants commonly found indoors:
Pothos
English Ivy
Sago Palms
Dumb Cane
Peace Lilies
Philodendron
Daffodils
Azaleas
Elephant’s Ear
Here are some other popular houseplants that are generally considered safe:
Dracaena
Spider Plants
Bamboo
African Violets
African Daisies
Boston Ferns
Bird of Paradise
Impatiens
Final Thoughts on Appreciating Our Houseplants
The plants we include in our indoor and outdoor living areas clean the air, brighten the space, and make the area more comfortable and relaxing.
With all that they do for us, we really should appreciate them throughout the year, but this dedicated day is a great reminder that the hardest working members of our household could use a little extra care from time to time.
Here are some other articles about houseplants that may be of interest to you:
Why Indoor Vertical Gardens Are Good for Your Home and Health
6 Tips to Keep Your Houseplants Alive & Healthy
How to Decorate Your Home and Garden with Air Plants
15 Common Plants that Are Toxic to Dogs and Cats
Your Turn…
How do you keep your houseplants healthy? We would love to know your favorite tips and tricks!
The post Celebrate Houseplant Appreciation Day and Improve Indoor Air Quality appeared first on INSTALL-IT-DIRECT.