Grow your own fresh air
2009-06-16
If you live in a city, try growing your own fresh air.
See this video and page. It's only four minutes and very worth it. Scroll down the page to see the details on the plants.
Since I got an apartment in Union Square, New York City, I decided to do it.
I called my local greenhouse and asked them to order:
- 4 x Areca Palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens) $50 each = $200
- 8 x Mother-in-law’s Tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata) $40 each = $320
- 4 x Money Plant (Epipremnum aureum) $30 each = $120
A total of $640 spent for clean air for the next few years. Good deal. The plants were delivered today (brought on a truck up from Florida), so we'll see if it makes a real difference.
I just wanted to post it here in case this appeals to you, too.
Derek, you always come up with such cool stuff...and/or turn me on to it, even if you didn't happen to invent it this time...rock on bro! -Ethan
Growing your own is a good idea for a lot of things... except tomatoes this year. 8^)
Always good to hear from you.
Great Post Derek! I love those TED talks... They are always worth it... I will be getting some plants soon! Just wondering what the sun requirements are..
Photos please!
Even if they don't do anything for the air (which I'm sure they do), the very look of them will bring some real cognitive happiness anyway!
It's hard to tell what Vegas air is like, since we Vegans spend so much time indoors during the long summer. I miss fresh air - even just the smell of it. Will be spreading the word...and buying some plants.
Some might argue that the unclean air is part of the "panache" of living in Manhattan.
Had no idea there is something green called "Mother-in-law's Tongue," are you absolutely sure you want that in your peaceful space? ; )
Good stuff here.. I'm making a vow to buy atleast one plant a month for the next year...
Hi Derek-
When my husband and I first got married we lived in a very tiny house with a shady and minuscule yard on a very,very busy street. Our back yard had no sun, but our driveway did. We wanted a vegetable garden, so we got a bunch of old whiskey barrels that someone was pitching, lined the bottom with rocks for drainage and put great soil in them. We had tomato plants, cucumbers, lettuce and a bunch of other things. It really helped us out at a time when we had little money. It was also really fun, easy to weed and got a couple of our friends into gardening.
This is a wonderful idea!! Especially in small apartments I definitely think its important to face your furniture to view windows more often, and to fill your place with plants! Great article!
I saw this vid last month and was on the phone before it was done. No Areca Palms to be found prior, but your post reminded me and I was once again on the phone before I was done reading. I was able to fit 5 areca palms into my accord and made it home with getting stopped by the police. Now to keep my 3yr from playing in the dirt.
Got the Money Plant already & will get the other two. Awesome info.
Thanks for this!!
Bromeliads are really good too. You might be interested in this book: http://amzn.com/0140262431
Be sure to mist the palms. If you get one of those misters with the brass hardware and the tinted glass bottle, you'll feel very New York.
Speaking of which, welcome to New York!
Got a money plant, mother-in-law’s tongue, spider plant and a peace lily cleaning my air. Going to add an Areca Palm or 2, another spider plant and another mother-in-law's tongue soon.
Some of the comments in the ted video found useful about specific chemicals cleaned by the plants:
http://vance.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/91/The%20Garden%20Path%20April%202008.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants
saw the video a couple days ago and enjoyed it. how are you going to decide whether it made a difference?
-- Derek
I guess I won't really be able to tell, since I got the plants as soon as I moved in. No true before-and-after comparison. Oh well.
I really enjoyed reading this, a great idea if you live in a city, which I did for a great part of my life. Fortunately I now live out in the hills to the south of Dublin, there is an oak forest nearby and when I need some fresh air in the house I just open the window.