Healthy green office plants… improving your indoor work environment!

Healthy green office plants can be seen as investing in a healthy work environment, and green plants are known to create comfortable surroundings in the otherwise boring office corridors.

Without growth, there is no life on earth.  Humans and plants are definitely interconnected.  Just like plants and companies.  However, there are more reasons to have healthy green office plants and fresh flowers included in the workplace than just for well-being.

Today, there is a lot of research related to plants’ positive effects on humans and our interior environments.  People are both physically and psychologically affected by plants and flowers, and we spend a lot more time indoors than we used to in absence of fresh green plants and flowers and oxygen-rich air.

A fresh and oxygen-rich environment is a must for us to be able to work efficiently.  In the daytime, the fresh green plants use the air we breathe out to produce oxygen.  Also, green plants regulate the humidity.  In office spaces without greenery, the humidity can be as low as 25%.  For a human being to feel good, 40-50% humidity is needed.  Office plants will compensate for that. 

Interior plants and water also absorb large amounts of particles from the air.  Any indoor space can be seen as a “miniature ecosystem”.  There is an atmosphere of a food supply, healthy plants, and microorganisms to go around.  Like larger ecosystems, it is important to keep it as pure as possible for the health of all those who spend time in it.  In many workspaces, the indoor air is very dense in particles, mainly due to dust or chemicals.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cites air as one of the greatest threats to health, with toxic gases emanating from carpets and cleaning supplies floating around. (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html)  Planting a smaller “jungle” of fresh green plants can, maybe surprisingly, help in removing these particles, or even odors.

There has also been research showing that having green plants and water in our proximity reduces complaints of headaches, difficulties in concentrating, allergies, tiredness, and even sore throat.  NASA scientists are for example finding that living, green and flowering plants can remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors, improving the quality of the air to make it a more pleasant place to work.  NASA research has even found that living plants are so efficient at absorbing toxins and contaminants in the air that some will be launched into space as part of the biological life support system aboard future orbiting space stations. (http://www.zone10.com/tech/NASA/Fyh.htm) 

The color green also affects us.  Green symbolizes harmony and trust.  We may feel safer in a “green” environment and we are generally happier.  In offices with no windows, it becomes especially obvious if there are no plants and flowers.  Green has also been proven to have a calming effect in stressful situations.  Environments that are less stressful increase the productivity and creativity.  In a study in 1996 in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture, productivity increased 12% when people performed a simple task on a computer in a room with office plants compared with workers who performed the same task in the same room without flowers and plants. (http://cahenews.wsu.edu/reportertools/news/1996/indoor-plants-1996-08.html)

That green and healthy plants also project an image of a well run and successful company is almost a given.  Employees are healthier, happier and more willing to give that little extra that could give a company that special competitive edge they have been looking for.

Healthy green office plants… the first impression says it all!

Southern Botanical provides high quality indoor and outdoor landscape and irrigation installation, plants for the office and maintenance services in the DFW area.  We are the one vendor for your complete interior and exterior horticultural décor.