in | 08 Feb 2018

What Happens When You Zen Up Your House With Plants

 

Nature is therapeutic. Being in the great outdoors can balance you right back into your natural state, but living in the city, and generally spending a lot of time indoors, we need to tweak our resources a bit. That’s where plants come in (literally). It’s not for nothing that NASA has done extensive research for years and years on the psychological and physiological effects plants have on us, and to this day sends plants on their manned space trips to take care of their astronauts wellbeing. For households, they recommend two or three plants in 8 to 10-inch pots for every 100 square feet. Did you know that our Astronauts Fuel juice gets its name from NASA too, as they also send the algae Blue Majik up in space for astronauts to consume because it is so extremely nutrient dense? Clever people over there. Anyway, here are three benefits you get from turning to the power of the indoor plant. 

 

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” 

- Frank Lloyd Wright

 

 

1. They clean out the air. We breathe in oxygen, and breathe out carbon dioxide. Add to the the chemicals from outside, but also from our cleaning products, paint, toiletries, and the indoor air can become way more polluted than we think. Plants work the other way around: they absorb CO2, and breathe out fresh O2 and even water vapors. Since we spend a lot of time indoors, especially in the winter, letting plants help improve air quality is really helpful and actually scientifically proven to be beneficial.

Plants of choice: Aloe Vera, Spider Plants, Golden Pothos.

 

2. They improve your mental clarity. So plants impact your memory, concentration and productivity, and boost your energy and feeling of vitality. Really? All of that in one go? Yes. Being ‘under the influence of plants’ (no, not that way) has major impact on our mental function, research has shown. “Work performed under the natural influence of ornamental plants is normally of higher quality and completed with a much higher accuracy rate than work done in environments devoid of nature.”

Plant of choice: Lavender

 

3. Nurturing them is nurturing your happiness. Apart from the fact that the mere sight of them will increase a sense of calm, scientifically speaking: taking care of something (or someone) releases the hormone oxytocin in our brains, making us give a warm-hearted feeling of purpose and belonging. 

Plant of choice: Bonsai 

 

Where we love to get our plants and flowers.

- Mooi Anders Bloemen 

A very innovative, different vision on plants and all sorts of bouquets. They organize workshops and serve coffee as well. 

Wildernis Amsterdam 

A similar mission to ours, their goal is to make the city greener, and like Mooi Anders, they have workshops and coffee too! On their website: “Green is good, not just for people and animals but for homes and offices, the city streets and beyond. Green provides peace in times of chaos, adds life to urban spaces, cleans our air – and looks good!

- Pompon Bloemen

Florist of the house! They provide all the lovely greenery we have in stores.