Plants Can Save The Environment – And Your Health

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TED is a dynamic and interactive series of ongoing confernces that has taken the world of keen learners and curious people by storm. The conferences  focus on innovation, new ideas, problem solving and creative ways to push the world forward. One particular clip that caught our attention was a short 5 minute talk.

The idea is simple – the more plants in our lives, the better.

Kamal Meattle, an air quality researcher working in India’s capital city New Delhi, explains how three common house plants can change the way we use energy and positively affect our health. His talk focused on these plants:

1. Areca Palm (house plant): Converts CO2 and converts it into oxygen. You’ll  need 4 shoulder high plants per person in your office. Make sure to wipe the leaves once a week and take them outside every 3-4 months.

2. Mother-in-law’s Tongue (bedroom plant): Converts C02 into Oxygen at night – You’ll  need 6-8 waiste high plants per person at your office.

3. Money Plant: Removes formaldihydes and other harmful chemicals from the air.

When inplemented into commercial and residential buildings, the following resulted:

  • Significant reductions in eye irratations, respitory problems, asthma, and skin conditions
  • An increase in human productivity by 20%
  • A reduction in energy requirements in buildings by 15%

Why is this important? [Read more...]

Look around – there are office supplies everywhere!

Have you ever found a handful of pens under your couch? Or guiltily eyed a stack of paper in your recycle bin? Giving them new life as office supplies is green and saves money.  Here are a couple of ideas for reusing supplies:

- Pens: think about those hotel pens you bring home from conventions. Or the ones you find when you are packing to move.  You can bring them into the office and stock them in the supply cabinet (the Delta hotels ones are from me!)

 Notepads: instead of using new paper for quick notes or mapping out ideas, why not use the back of your printouts. If you’d like to get “extra fancy” you can cut them down to 5 x 7″ pieces and attach with a binder clip.

- Paperclips: have you even been annoyed by paperclips on old documents? They are great for reusing and are more green than staples (nevermind they don’t wreck your nails when removing them!)

- Plants: we all know the benefit of plants in the office. What about throwing a “house-warming” party for new team members and give a plant for their desk as a gift?  Or put leftover fresh herbs in a vase with   your  bamboo plant to clean up the air even more (not to mention a delicious way to spruce up your lunch!)

Got anymore ideas? Send them to the Green Team – we are working on a Green Your Desk campaign and would love to be able to share your ideas with your colleages.

The Benefits of Plants in the Office

Did you know the following facts about having plants in and around your office?

According to a study out of Washington State University, plants release moisture in an office environment, creating a humidity level matching the recommended human comfort range of 30% to 60%. A comfortable office environment is more conducive to productivity. [Read more...]