Put some plants to work

image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Back in the 80s, NASA conducted a multi-year study investigating the air filtration capabilities of ordinary indoor plants. The report itself is a beautiful thing to read, if you're into scientific studies. It turns out that a few plants in particular do a pretty awesome job of cleaning up indoor air quality, with demonstrable results in 24 hours. A list of 30 air-filtering plants with notes on each can be found here, but I've put together a shorter list of my top five favorites:

1. Spider Plant - Super easy to maintain, this is the perfect "training plant." Just water when the leaves start to droop or crease and you'll see it perk right back up. Even a small plant provides lots of leaf surface area, meaning lots of filtration power.
2. Peace Lily - This plant filters out more offenders than anything else on the list, plus you get flowers! Peace lilies are poisonous to cats and dogs, so keep away from pets.
3. Mother-in-law's Tongue - I love the variegated leaves on this plant, which grow up from the soil in tight little spirals. It's also toxic to cats and dogs, so keep it in a safe place. 
4. Golden Pothos - This is the fastest-growing plant I own, always producing more and more air-filtering leaves. Keep it on top of a tall dresser or bookcase so it is out of reach of both pets and children, who can also get sick from eating it.
5. Aloe Vera - Every bedroom deserves one of these! Most plants churn out oxygen all day long and rest at night, but aloe vera does the opposite, cranking out fresh clean oxygen all night long for you to breathe while you sleep.

You should be able to find these plants for $4-8 each. Check your regular grocery store, superstores with a garden section, plant nurseries, or Ikea. Next time you have an occasion to buy flowers for a friend, give them a potted plant instead! It'll cost around the same amount but will last much longer and will clean up the air every day.

So what exactly needs to be filtered out of the air? The substances listed by each plant above are VOCs, volatile organic compounds. These chemicals abound in our homes because they are used in personal care products, cleaners and air fresheners, carpets and textiles, wood products and furniture, paint and paint strippers, and dry-cleaned clothing. VOCs are known to cause adverse health effects such as headaches and nausea, damage to the kidney, liver, and central nervous system, and even cancer. Levels of VOCs in the air are consistently higher indoors than outdoors, and not much is known at present about the safety of exposure to ordinary household air levels. 

Whenever possible, I try to limit VOCs before a product comes into my home. All of the products and practices featured on this blog are low-VOC or VOC-free. The reality, however, is that most of us cannot eliminate all known VOCs from our homes this way - You can pretty easily change your cleaning products and your shampoo, but it is not as easy to rip out your carpet, replace all your furniture, etc. So what can you do in the meantime? Adopt a couple of houseplants! Open your windows each day, place a few plants around the house, and breathe a little easier.