• Home
  • About

ArtPlantae Today

Connecting artists, naturalists, and educators

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Introduction to botanical illustration with Gilly Shaeffer
Florilegium Society Celebrates 20th Anniversary »

Plants and Urban Air Quality

June 17, 2015 by Tania Marien

PlantsWhyYouCantLiveWithoutThemIn the urban landscape, we are surrounded by plants.

When talking about plants in this environment, we tend to use very general labels (e.g., street tree and patio tree). In today’s Plants, Life, Riverside column we focus on another group of plants with a vague name — houseplants.

Houseplants may be the least exciting plants we encounter in everyday life. Unfortunately that expression “seen one, seen them all” kind of fits in their case. But did you know houseplants contribute much to your well-being?

Houseplants are fascinating in their own right because of the role they play in improving indoor air quality. This information comes to us from the National Aeronautics Space Administration’s (NASA) research into creating livable environments in space. Thanks to NASA and the work of international research teams, we have a better understanding of how plants in built environments improve indoor air quality.

According to B.C. Wolverton and Kozaburo Takenaka, authors of Plants: Why You Can’t Live Without Them, plants not only improve indoor air quality but also have:

  • A positive effect on the physiological and psychological well-being of people occupying built spaces.
  • A positive effect on recovering patients.
  • A positive effect on worker productivity.

Wolverton and Takenaka discuss indoor and outdoor air quality, volatile organic chemicals in built environments, and the purification abilities of plants in the first half of their book. Wolverton and Takenaka (2010) have many years’ experience studying indoor and outdoor environments. Dr. B.C. “Bill” Wolverton is a retired NASA scientist and has received patents and awards for his research into environmental pollution. He is the author of How to Grow Fresh Air (1997) and Growing Clean Water – Nature’s Solution to Water Pollution (out of print). Kozaburo Takenaka is the founder of Takenaka Garden Afforestation, the top plant leasing company in Japan. Takenaka has created green environments in indoor and outdoor spaces and has researched green plant-related technologies.

In their book, Wolverton and Takenaka also discuss rooftop gardening, vegetable gardening, commercial crop production, medicinal plants, aromatherapy, and phytoremediation (the use of plants in waste filtration). To guide the reader through these topics, the authors include a glossary of terms and a bibliography of interesting articles and resources in the back of their book.

Plants: Why You Can’t Live Without Them can be purchased online from your local independent bookstore.


Literature Cited

Wolverton, B.C. 1997. How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants That Purify Your Home or Office. New York, NY: Penguin Books

Wolverton, B.C. and Kozaburo Takenaka. 2010. Plants: Why You Can’t Live Without Them. New Delhi, India: Lustre Press

Wolverton, B.C. and John D. Wolverton. 2001. Growing Clean Water: Nature’s Solution to Water Pollution. Picayune, MS: WES, Inc.


Related
Bring plants into your classroom


Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Plants Everyday, Plants Life Riverside |

  • I’m curious about…

  • What Readers Are Reading Now

    • California
    • Earn a Professional Certificate in Natural Science Illustration at the University of Washington
    • Scientific Illustration in the Elementary School Classroom
    • Today's Botanical Artists On Using Photographs
    • Dry Brush Technique for Botanical Artists
  • Plants & You

  • Featured Guests

    Wendy Hollender (interview)

    Wendy Hollender

    Gilly Shaeffer

    Today’s Botanical Artists

    Society of Botanical Artists

    Billy Showell (interview)

    Billy Showell

    Sarah Simblet (webinar)

    Robin Brickman

    Mark Granlund

    Wendy Hollender (webinar)

    Diane Cardaci

    Katie Lee (webinar)

    Bruce L. Cunningham (webinar)

    Jane LaFazio (interview)

    Jane LaFazio

    Mally Francis (interview)

    Kandis Elliot

    Anne-Marie Evans

    Margaret Best

    Elaine Searle

    Mindy Lighthipe

    Niki Simpson

    Anna (Knights) Mason

    Helen Allen

    Birmingham Society of
    Botanical Artists

    Hazel West-Sherring

    John Muir Laws

    Martin J. Allen

    Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration

    Mairi Gillies

    Georgius Everhardus Rumphius

    Liz Leech

    Valerie Littlewood

    Heeyoung Kim

    Anna Laurent

    Linda Ann Vorobik

    Shawn Sheehy

    Gary Hoyle

    Katie Zimmerman

    Mariella Baldwin

    Anita Walsmit Sachs

    Ruth Ava Lyons

    Katie Zimmerman

    Kellie Cox-Brady

    Jennifer Landin

    Laurence Hill

    Gretchen Kai Halpert

    Susan Leopold

    Tina Scopa

  • Global Impact

    Botanists and illustrators strive to document conifers around the world.

  • Nature Near You

    Global Directory of Botanical Gardens
    Botanic Gardens Conservation International
    Search for a Garden

    National Park Service
    Search for national parks at the National Park Service website.www.nps.gov

    National Environmental Education Foundation's Nature Center Guide.
    Find Your Nature Center

    Rails-to-Trails
    Find a trail for hiking, walking, cycling or inline skating. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and its volunteers work to convert unused railroads into trails for healthful outdoor activities.
    Search their national TrailLink database to locate a trail near you.

    Sierra Club Trails
    Locate trails for hiking, cycling, climbing, and many other outdoor activities.
    Search Sierra Club Trails

  • © 2007-2022 by Tania Marien. All rights reserved.
    Contact Tania

    Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Artists retain the copyright to their work.

    The ArtPlantae® logo is a registered trademark.

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • ArtPlantae Today
    • Join 1,788 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • ArtPlantae Today
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: