How to use plants to improve air quality in your office

Breathe happier with our top tips

Offices can be incredibly stale environments and with a lack of foresight or good quality ventilation, can become an unhealthy and counterproductive place to work in the long run, especially in places with large staff numbers with equipment, computers and machinery all pumping out heat and dirty air. It’s a hive for poor longer term health.

As well as maintaining good quality hygiene, cleanliness and lighting, air quality is very important too. And the best way to help that is to have a good selection of plants to oxygenate the air with pure, clean air that will improve your team’s overall wellbeing and working environment around them.

But which plants should you use? Here’s a run down of the best five plants to consider placing in your office or workplace:

1. Aloe Vera

Well known as an alternative medicinal source for many centuries, the gel inside aloe vera can help to treat cuts and burns extremely effectively and is commonly found in after sun products. But did you know that aloe vera can also efficiently clean air? Best of all, it requires little watering so is perfect for those who don’t have especially green fingers. It’s also a small and compact plant so perfect for desks.

2. English Ivy

More commonly seen covering the exterior of traditional and grade listed buildings, this climbing plant will gobble up VOCs (volatile organic compounds), leaving your office feeling much fresher and cleaner.

3. Peace Lily

As another plant that doesn’t require a great deal of watering, Peace Lillies are again perfect for desks and office interiors. Studies have shown they can remove benzene, formaldehyde, ammonia and other pollutants from stale, interior air, so are a great option. They’re also very pretty too!

4. Silver Vine

Also known as Devil’s Ivy and Golden Pothos, this vine is an attractive leafy plant that will soften the look of your office whilst taking care of filtering out pollutants such as formaldehyde, xylene and benzene. These little wonders can grow up to 65 feet tall, so put it somewhere where there’s space and room for it the flourish.

5. Spider Plant

As another attractive and compact office option, Spider Plants aren’t very needy so can be neglected for quite some time without drying out or dying. They’re a great plant as they help remove formaldehyde, xylene and toluene from the air and if cared for well, sprout little baby plants which can be a very attractive addition to your desk.

All of these options require very little time or investment, yet can help to dramatically improve the environment around your office. So if the place feels a little stale and musty, try out a few of the above plants and see the difference.