GoodNews: Do you know you need only three plants to keep your home 'air' healthy?

GoodNews: Do you know you need only three plants to keep your home 'air' healthy?

Fresh, oxygen-filled air is a thing of the past in most Indian cities. If you don’t believe it, try looking out your window on the clearest night and count the number of stars in the sky. Not more than three or four, apart from the moon. The smog in the air has cocooned our cities and made us ill.

The capital New Delhi as well as Mumbai, Agra, Patna and Varanasi are some of the most polluted in the world. This air pollution is causing a myriad of respiratory disorders such as lung infections and asthma – and has increased the level of viral infections, migraine attacks, and persistent cough and cold.

At one point, Delhi-based Kamal Meattle, CEO of the Paharpur Business Centre (PBC), was in such bad shape, health-wise, he thought he would die. That’s when he decided to do something about it. Now known as one of New Delhi’s oldest green evangelists, Meattle has transformed his office building into a green paradise that ‘washes’ the pollution off the air and makes it healthy to breathe.

In fact, Meattle claims the air in his office is as crisp and fresh as the one you will find on the Swiss Alps.

In 2009, Meattle had given a TedTalk on the topic: How to Grow Your Own Fresh Air. This talk focussed on just three plants that you need in order to replace the polluted air in your home to fresh, clean, oxygenated air.

These three are: Areca Palm, Mother-in-law’s tongue, and the Money plant.



Watch his talk here, as he explains how strategic placements of these plants within your home can bring serious freshness to your air within no time.

More recently, Meattle gave another talk in which he spoke about – Productivity benefits of air quality in your office. You can watch that here.

Not just Meattle, many international agencies have done similar studies to prove the advantage of having plants at home. According to a 1989 NASA study, these common houseplants, can remove even carcinogenic toxins and smoke from the air and clean it up for you.

While the Indian market is slowly flooding with air purifying machines, we ask you, can a machine do what a natural plant can?

Tell us in the comments below. Also share your stories on how you the air in your home cleaner.