The news is troubling when it comes to the quality of air in your home — and the reasons why are many, unfortunately. Just about every building material we use inside the home ends up off-gassing something toxic in nature. Things like paint from the walls, spackle and plaster in the ceiling and walls, wood flooring or carpet and the materials beneath that provide extra padding, even the fabric in your home furniture or your shower curtain — all of it is contributing to an unhealthy level of toxins in your living environment. Further, new home construction has improved energy efficiency, principally from tighter-sealed windows, roofs and doors, causing the poor air to remain trapped inside. So what can you do?

Helping to balance the bad news of toxins in the home is the simple solution that is available to anyone with a couple of dollars.

Purchasing a few indoor house plants, and there are many beneficial ones easily available, can really help to counteract the potentially high levels of unhealthy air. How does this work? Simple — green plants function like air filters in nature, by taking in carbon dioxide and converting it to oxygen. They help to absorb the toxins in the air, and refine them through the process of photosynthesis.

The following short list of recommended house plants has been compiled not only for the healthy benefits and air cleaning ability, but also for low- to no-maintenance care schedules and quick growth in a variety of conditions. For these reasons, the ficus tree, the bamboo palm, English ivy, and the golden pothos are among the best house plants to get. Find out more about how house plants improve indoor air quality here.




(Image Credit: Matty Byloos)