In an experiment conducted in a 300-employee building in New Delhi, India, three varieties of plants have proved to make the air inside the building cleaner, fresher, healthier. Are we on the threshold of being able to grow our own fresh air? Not to mention a saving in energy costs, a higher level of productivity, because the energy levels of people inside go up, and a decrease in ailments like eye irritation, respiratory illnesses and headaches.

There were three plants that were tested and here they are. Each one is beneficial in a slightly different way and they have been dubbed accordingly. So you have the Living Room Plant, the Bedroom Plant and the Specialist Plant. 

Does this open a window of hope for the future? Will be have less polluted spaces to work in, to play in, to live in? Will the world turn to a greenhouse kind of living with a few plants which make the air fresher?

We’ve grown up being taught that plants give out carbon dioxide at night which is why it isn’t advisable to have plants in your room when you’re sleeping. Now here’s something that is turning all those old beliefs upside down and telling us that it is good to have a whole lot of plants around you even at night. According to the experiments that have been conducted, obviously only some plants have the capability of producing oxygen at night. And who knows, there may be many such plants that could be good for us in more ways than one!

In India, the tulsi plant – a variety of the basil - is revered and planted at the entrance of most homes. This has been carried a bit further by certain natural medicine practitioners - people who suffer from ailments that can’t be cured are sent to farms that are overgrown with tulsi. They say that just being there has wrought so many miraculous cures. 

There’s so much in Nature that heals, sustains and protects us. All we need to do is to reach out and drink freely of the abundance that it offers. If these experiments are an indication of this theory that plants can be beneficial to us just by being around us, it could open up a whole new world of fresh air. 

The Living Room Plant

The Areca plant is also known as the Butterfly plant. Its botanical name is Chrysalidocarpus lutescens and it is originally from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is found in most tropical countries today and is usually used as an ornamental plant.

The Bedroom Plant

This plant is called the Mother-in-law’s tongue or the Snake plant. This too is mainly used for ornamental purposes though in many places in Africa it is still used as a charm to ward off evil. Its botanical name is Sansevieria trifasciata. 

The Specialist Plant

Called the Money plant or the Silver vine, the botanical name of the plant is Epipremnum aureum. The plant is originally from Asia and New Guinea and it is used as an ornamental plant both indoors and outdoors. 

So that’s it – just three plants to make a huge impact in your life. You’ll feel better, you’ll work better, you’ll live better. So open up the doors of your office and home to the power of oxygen by making the space around you green with these powerhouse plants.

Thank you Feline Prophet for sending me the link to this experiment.