Why Everyone Is Obsessing Over Indoor Plants Right Now

This new generation has been forced together in the small spaces of apartment living where the only view is the next apartment building and probably a Walmart. The sounds of millions of vehicles driving on stretches of paved roads that have flattened and killed the grassy meadows is all we hear. If you’re lucky, you will have a few fake trees in the lobby to make it seem like you’re still living on Earth. Maybe even the same type of tree that has been genetically modified several times to withstand the air pollution will line the sidewalks. Only IF you’re lucky.

The stressful living of 60-hour work weeks and forgetting which planet we live on has started a movement to reconnect with nature. Those who wanted an urban escape would go camping on the weekends and notice the fresh air, energy, and magic they feel walking on land. Everyone who does this weekend trip always says, ‘I wish I could stay here forever and never go back to the city again’.

The only realistic solution today is to bring a part of that magical forest back with them. Once a person gets their first indoor plant (this was mine!), they have to get more as soon as they see the space they live is mostly apartment and not more jungle. The more plants an indoor plant lover gets, the more benefits start to unveil.

These are the benefits and why everyone is obsessing over indoor plants.

Indoor plants clean the air

The rise of respiratory illness and awareness of higher indoor air pollution increasing the risk for these respiratory illnesses has led our generation to search for natural solutions. The release of NASA’s clean air study has shown to prove using nature indoors is the best solution.

The study has a list of plants and which indoor pollutant it can actually remove from the air. These pollutants are benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene, and ammonia. Most of these are known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The health effects from these types of indoor air exposure closely resemble common allergies and even Flu like symptoms. These symptoms and more information about VOCs can be found on the EPA website.

Formaldehyde is one of the most abundant of indoor air contaminants and is a known carcinogen. It is the glue of our homes and our furniture. In this modern age, we love to decorate with trendy furniture. Most don’t know these trends could actually be harming us.

Luckily, the trend of having an indoor urban jungle is also on the rise. Also lucky, my first and favorite indoor plant, the Rubber Plant, is very efficient at removing formaldehyde from the air. A fun banana tree to grow indoors also is very efficient at removing indoor formaldehyde and who wouldn’t want a banana tree in their home!

Indoor plants reduce stress and anxiety

Stress and anxiety is rising in our community with growing work demands or maybe not even enough work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these tough times, I researched ways to support my mental health. Caring for an indoor garden made the list!

I’ve had a few plants I was caring for, but recently, I have increased my plant family and my obsession. I found the more indoor plants I collected, the better I felt!

Having plants, going for a walk in the park, or even looking at a landscape poster could produce psychological benefits, reduce stress, and improve concentration. – Psychology Today

If I wasn’t working as much and felt economic pressure, my plants gave me something positive to do and provided a magical place I could focus and overcome this pressure. If I was working TOO much, caring for my plants gave me something to look forward to besides constantly thinking about work.

You see, having an indoor garden provided the positive natural balance to my life no matter what the situation. Sitting there festering over negative stressful thoughts that would increase my anxiety would always disappear once I saw a new leaf emerge or that I saw my new baby plant needed a drink of water. Once I saw those plant leaves perk up, it made my mood perk up too.

Decorating your indoor garden space is also therapeutic. Collecting plant accessories such as decorative pots can add more beauty to your home. My personal favorite plant accessory that adds the most therapeutic value is an indoor water fountain. An indoor water fountain can increase humidity for those high maintenance tropical plants and the soft gentle trickling water sound is so satisfying to listen to.

Once you start plant obsessing, you will begin to interior design obsess as well. Trust me, the therapeutic creativity is endless with an indoor garden!

Here’s some plant décor ideas from my Pinterest to check out!

Indoor plants reconnect people to nature

As I mentioned earlier, with the dreaded urban living that can make you feel like you are not living on Earth anymore, indoor plants reconnect people to nature and remind us that this IS our home and we CAN make it seem more like Earth again by bringing nature indoors.

The plant obsessed remember how nature feels on their bare feet and will bring that moss bathmat into their bedroom to feel it every day. They will grow that living wall to reduce the white paint they see in their apartments and to remember the diverse lush green plant life from the forest they visited once before.

It is not that we are plant obsessed. It is that we don’t want to forget.

When we forget that we used to be closer to nature, we cause damage to our planet. That saying, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ holds truth and is demonstrated when we don’t think about the trees that were cut down to make that beautiful wooden shelf you just bought, or the pollution created to bring you kitchen utensils.

Bringing nature indoors and reconnecting leads to eco friendly living such as switching to more bamboo products in the home, living more sustainable in the bathroom or changing a daily habit to reduce plastic pollution.

Nature is powerful and has a way of influencing positive change if you open up to it.