Home Air Cleaners
Today i got a catalog in the mail which was titled:
Products in harmony with the earth. On two pages were
air cleaners which you plug into the wall. Some used
filters and the prices were not cheap.
On my desk is a book called "How to grow Fresh Air"
I've now compared the two ways to clean the air and
can not see anything earth friendly about the products
in the catalog. This may not be an eco-sham but it
is close. On the other hand the idea of growing fresh
air is inexpensive, non-polluting, and sustainable.
The use of plants became credible after a
NASA study which hoped to use the results in space flight.
It never got used, but since then the idea has grown.
Over the years i've watched the magazine articles add
new facts and expand on the original research.
A few years ago i began seeing specific chemicals mentioned and
how different plants functioned to remove them. It was
discovered that the soil played a major role and a small
ecology was created by the plant which involved other life
forms. All this information has now been collected in
a book and it is a good read.
How to Grow Fresh Air
(50 Houseplants that Purify your home or office)
Dr. B. C. Wolverton
This book is copyrighted in 1996 but did not appear in this area
until recently and i suspect many of the magazine articles used it
as a starting point.
Different plants remove different chemicals from the air so it
is difficult to pick one plant. This is another good argument
for diversity. What i find interesting is that some of the older
plants are the most active cleaners. Some palms and ferns do
a good job. The top rated plant for formaldehyde is Boston Fern.
For xylene and toluene it is Areca palm and for ammonia it is
Lady palm. One of my favorites (peace lily) removes a wide
variety of chemicals and survived my constant neglect.
The top rated plants in the book are all palms (Areca, Lady, and
Bamboo palm). I've found most of these plants as small seedlings
in nurseries for a couple of dollars. That works out to be
a few pennies each year when spread over a lifetime.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
