Green (Literally!) Air Purification

A website dedicated to reviewing air purifiers (you know, those expensive, ugly, power-hungry appliances) recently combined results from four studies (NASA and Wolverton) to determine the best houseplants for removing toxins from your home. Turns out, a small plant (6") per 100 square feet of your home can significantly lower the amounts of these common household toxins:

-carbon monoxide
-nitrogen dioxide
-formaldehyde
-ammonia
-benzene

Here are the leafy super-cleaners, starting with strongest purification power:

1. Areca Palm


2. Lady Palm


3. Bamboo Palm


4. Rubber Plant


5. Janet Craig Dracaena


6. English Ivy **potentially poisonous if ingested**


7. Dwarf Date Palm

8. Ficus


9. Boston Fern


10. Peace Lily **potentially poisonous if ingested**


11. Aloe Vera **potentially poisonous if ingested**


12. Spider Plants


13. Chrysanthemum **potentially poisonous if ingested**


14. Heart-Leaf Philodendron **potentially poisonous if ingested**


15. Mother-in-Law Tongue/Snake Plant


One trip to Ikea and just $75 later, my house has it first round of air purifiers--in cute pots of course! The plants were much more affordable than those at the home improvement store. Ikea also has a wide variety of decorative pots. I chose simple neutral ones because I wasn't sure for which room each plant was destined. :)

A few of our new leafy friends


I still need to add more to get to that 6"/100sq ft sweet spot, but I'm happy to be on my way. I'm also pleased with the element the plants bring to my decor!

[My apologies for leaving out the link to my source...fixed!]