Article: Create a healthy home with plants 

While architects and interior designers may have many different ideas about future trends, one Danish researcher says that nature and plants have always been a recurrent feature in our homes. 

Mette Melchenborg, a researcher into the various conceptions of home and housing at the Department of Literature, Culture and Media of the University of Southern Denmark, says: 
"Many philosophers have concerned themselves with the relationship between mankind and nature, and there is general agreement that if you get lost in the world, you can find yourself again in nature. Such is the status that nature enjoys."
Plants give meaning to life 
When the rat race and its demands get to be too much, and it's hard to see the point of it all, we can find our way back to ourselves through plants," explains Mette, who continues: 

"A plant doesn't care if you're unemployed, divorced or starting out on a promising career. It is part of a larger organic system and it has its own meaning in life, which is to germinate, grow and die. It just "is", and that sense of calm and continuity has a relaxing effect on us." 
A renaissance for plants
On the basis of her own research and that of others, Mette Melchenborg predicts that our interest in surrounding ourselves with plants at home will shortly undergo a resurgence: 
"All the indications are that plants will enjoy a renaissance in the home, which is linked to the whole 'simple living' trend we are currently experiencing. We need to get back to basics and create our own experiences. Just look at how popular TV gardening programmes have become, and how vegetable plots are springing up all around."  
 
Plants – a healthy investment 
In recent years, more and more studies have demonstrated that the presence of plants is not only relaxing, but also helps to remove toxins from the air and improve our indoor climate. The many documented positive effects suggest that plants which purify the air for the family are a healthy investment.  

Facts:
Plants which are guaranteed to cleanse the air for the family: 
Bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus) 
Aloe vera 
Chlorophytum elatum
Draceana deremensis 
Silver vine (Epipremnum aureum)
English ivy (Hedera helix)
'Twiggy' (Homalocladium)
Mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria ) 
Peace lily (Spathiphyllum)