Why Indoor Office Plants?

It is widely accepted that fresh air is needed to maintain a general state of well being, but how can we achieve this when we are inside working for a large portion of our lives? Well we can at least help ourselves by utilising office plants to keep the air we do breathe indoors as healthy as possible. This has the added benefit of boosting our energy and zest for work and makes us more productive for our employers. There has been much research in this field and it has been found that

Plants make the air we breathe cleaner as they remove carbon dioxide and other toxins.

Plants also emit oxygen which makes people more conscious and alert which puts them in a better frame of mind to work better, harder and more efficiently

Plants add humidity to the air inside which can make us less susceptible to illnesses, coughs and colds. This is a major cause for absenteeism and acts as a simple solution to one bane of an employer's life; absent employees.

Plants are known to make people feel less stressed and to feel generally happier. Again this is important for employers who want a happy productive workforce.

Ok so all the above make sense but can we prove any of it or is it office myths? Well yes actually, it has all been proved by research so let's have a look at some of it here.

One of the comments above says that plants lessen stress levels and make people feel better. Well this is well known but can it be proved. In 1994 Professor Dr Tove Fjeld from Oslo started a two year study onto the effect of plants on humans. He focussed his study on conditions that had been linked in previous research to indoor climates. This was a set of Twelve symptoms such as coughing and tiredness. He split a sample of offices into 2 sections and left both offices without office plants for a while then used them in the first half for 12 months and then swapped so they were in the second section for the following 12 months.

Results from this study showed that workers felt better with plants in the office and health wise there was a 25% drop off on complaints from the 12 predetermined conditions. When asked to fill in a survey the vast majority of employees wanted to keep office plants in the future.

If we take another example of some research and align it to one of the claims above we will find there is more support for our statements:

NASA in the 1980s used houseplants to purify water and air that was polluted. Other scientists have evolved these findings and discovered even more benefits. As our office environments become more and more sterile and unnatural the air quality is also suffering which may be leading to a rise in physical and psychological conditions. Findings from tests show that plants can improve workforce productivity and increase efficiency and sales. They have also shown that illness has decreased and both of these produce cost savings for businesses which can end up back in the hands of the consumer.

What is shown here and what has been proved by science is that office plants and office plant maintenance are critical to run a business effectively and at its optimum efficiency. If you need assistance in maximising your business why not contact Fosters Foliage on 08005874672 or visit their website http://www.breathing-space.co.uk.

Carl - Copywriter for Breathing-space.co.uk specialising in Office Plants