How Plants Help Us...

How Plants Help Us Fight Pollution

For most of us, plants are just a decorative element, something aesthetic, but they are also something else! Something far beyond what man-made things are capable of, something so impactful, they are the natural air purifiers, pollution fighters, and let’s not forget they beautify the indoors as well as the outdoors.

Urban pollution has become a huge public health issue. The air quality index of the city of Delhi alone is 5 times worse than the Central board control board limit. The winters are frosted with thick layers of smog, the escalating number of respiratory health issues have become a common dose to digest, and while there are dangerous levels of toxins present, a single day in the city has become equivalent to forty cigarettes. All sorts of measures have been taken into consideration, but nothing can beat the power of flora that has been taking care of us since the beginning of a lifetime. Plants, trees, bushes, all of the green sources have been beautifying the streets, indoors, office desktops, have blessed us with medical herbs treating diseases, however, the most impeccable things they have done for us and continue to do is help us breath fresh and cleanse the environment fighting the pollutants every second.

Well, many of us are well aware of how plants have been the true epitomes of the green movement but less of us know how they have been contributing to our betterment. The following points are sure to throw sunkissed light on it.

1. Traps Carbon Dioxide

Just like we need oxygen, the same way plants need carbon dioxide and thus, they trap the high quantities of it to convert it into oxygen. The high amount of carbon released from cars, appliances, and industries are absorbed every second from the trees and plants around and are used in the breakdown process to release high amounts of oxygen.

2. Absorbs Dangerous Toxins

They are the natural fresheners that absorb dangerous chemicals, leaving the air cleaner for us to breathe. Toxins like Formaldehyde, Benzene, Trichloroethylene, Toluene, Xylene, Carbon Monoxide, and Ammonia form a big composition in the air both indoors and outdoors and needs to be cleaned regularly and that’s when plants and trees come into the picture! Removing these harmful chemicals, plants treat each of these by a variety of mechanisms.

3. Improves The Air Quality

Houseplants remove volatile organic compounds including the airborne pollutants and no matter if these are the huge trees on the roadside or the indoor plants in the corridor, they are responsible for better indoor air quality and associated improvements in physical health.

4. Increases The Humidity

They increase humidity by transpiring water vapor through microscopic leaf pores, and they can passively absorb pollutants on the external surfaces of leaves and on the plant root-soil system. This process is called transpiration which makes all the green buddies around us the natural humidifiers

5. Fights The Smog

All the smoke emitted by cars and crackers during and before winters affects the air around and affects the visibility. The microbiomes present in the plant participates in the elimination of airborne pollutants, the smog, and increases the air quality, freshens it at the same time.

6. Helps Breathe Fresh

Infusing fragrance via its flowers, improving the air quality by treating air pollutants, filtering the toxins and other harmful gases, plants are the very reason we can still bring the nature indoors and relish the freshness 24X7.

7. Helps In Sleeping Better

Fresh air around lets you work better, live better, and of course, sleep better and plants are the only ones that can gift you a perfect sleep at night. They are the perfect and healthy stress busters that need to be a part of daily living.

Plants have now become a rare entity and in order to sustain a healthy life, lots of houseplants, trees are essential. Plant saplings, order houseplants, no matter what the pollution level is, do your bit and be an active part of the green revolution.