Vine or Wine? The Best Housewarming Gift

It has been over a year since the COVID-19 global pandemic swept headlines. Mandates to minimize exposure saw people spending more time working, schooling, and reimagining the home space. Long overdue projects to drive efficiencies, organize, and beautify dominated our to-do lists. With vaccination efforts progressing, many folks are visiting friends or family for the first time in months, and invitations to “come to our house – we’ve remodeled!” are commonplace. What to bring: wine or a house plant?

If you picked a plant, you are not only helping to add color to your friend’s home, but you’re improving the air quality, per the NASA Clean Air Study, conducted by The National Aeronautics and Space Administration to demonstrate the effectiveness of particular plants to purify air (1). As our homes become better insulated and efficient, they also make it easier to trap the aroma of renovation (i.e. indoor air pollutants), which may cause headaches, or respiratory issues like asthma and allergies. While chemicals found in construction products (glues/adhesives, paints, foam insulation, carpets, etc.) invite airborne particle guests to overstay their welcome right under your nose, house plants, notably palms, snake and money plants may play the ultimate host to keeping your indoor air clean (2).

References:

  1. https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_19930072988
  2. https://medium.com/@iamgreenified/12-nasa-recommended-air-purifying-plants-that-you-must-have-in-your-house-8797645054b9