Sarah Beinner - Week 6 - The Benefits of a Houseplant

    Houseplants are great for incorporating decorative, lively greenery into your home. However, this is not the extent of their benefits. They do a lot more for you than just looking nice. Houseplants can improve air quality, reduce stress, and decrease depressive moods. 

    The relationship between how plants and animals improve each other's air quality is symbiotic. A symbiotic relationship is a mutually beneficial relationship between two different organisms that live in close proximity. Houseplants benefit from humans because they take in the carbon dioxide that we breathe out, and they benefit humans since they replace that air with oxygen, which we breathe in. This means that they depend on us for their air, and we depend on them for ours.  A  NASA study explains that houseplants can also help improve human air quality by removing cancer-causing chemicals from the air. These cancer-causing chemicals include formaldehyde and benzene. In addition, the NASA study describes how the microorganisms that thrive in soil and around a plant's roots extract compounds from the air and turn them into nutrients for the plant to harvest. This demonstrates that it isn't just the plant itself that acts as an air filter but also its roots and the soil in which it is planted. 

    Houseplants can also reduce stress and decrease depressive moods. They have this effect since you tend to feel better about yourself when you care for something other than yourself. People feel this way because nurturing a living thing takes energy, as you have to ensure it is getting everything it needs to survive. Putting this energy into something other than yourself can be very mentally rewarding as it can give you a sense of productivity. Plus, after you do something productive, you are more likely to continue that productivity throughout the day.

Do you have a house plant? If so, what kind of plant is it, and do you feel that it is beneficial for you?


Comments

  1. MeitalOctober 31, 2023 at 6:52 AM

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  2. MeitalOctober 31, 2023 at 6:53 AM

    I have had house plants in the past but they always seem to end up dead even though I water them regularly and take care of them. This is probably because I am not doing enough for them, or maybe I am doing too much. Either way, this blog made me wonder if the plants end up dead, is having them actually going to decrease depressing moods? If they die then you will feel like you failed them and I think that this would make you feel even worse.

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