Greening Liberally: Budding Ideas

At Living Liberally we are increasingly thinking of new ways to create a more sustainable environment here in New York as well as nationally.

America's obsession with cleaning supplies and air fresheners has become a full time job for advertising strategists who have been known in recent years to market products towards younger and younger consumers. There has been a large increase in commercial cleaning supplies since the 1950s which has caused a lack of information on the ingredients of the products that Americans are using in their homes and workplaces. These air fresheners normally include a combination of benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), and formaldehyde. These chemicals have been shown to be hazardous to the environment as well as questionable in their safety for humans.

As we spend an increasing amount of time indoors, our breathing space suffers. Thanks to improvements in insulation in buildings there is very little room for these chemicals to escape. What results is a hazardous breathing environment for everyone.

Plants are a natural solution to this problem as well as an aesthetic one. They pull carbon out of the atmosphere bringing the best part of the outdoors home to those of us who a rely on the synthetic wood on our desks as the only part of nature that we touch. Some do a better job than others as these natural air purifiers. Some are also better for specific pollutants in the air depending on your workspace or home, it is best to look into certain plants specifically to see what suits your needs.

These are some of the many that are recommended for indoor spaces:

Aloe Vera
Aglaonema Modestum (Chinese Evergreen)
Chamaedorea Seifritzii (Bamboo Palm)
Chlorophytum Elatum (Green Spider Plant)
Chrysanthemum Morifolium (Pot Mum/Florists' Chrysanthemum)
Gerbera Jamesonii (African Daisy)
Hedera Helix (English Ivy)
Scindapsus Aureus (Golden Pothos)
Spathiphyllum Mauna Loa (Peace Lily)

At Living Liberally HQ we recently adopted a Peace Lily, not only because of its ability to release oxygen back into the atmosphere or the fact that its easy to take care of; it was also voted "desk plant of the year 2007" (not to mention the name had a certain appeal). We have dubbed our plant Leaf Wellington Haase, after a wonderful Health Care Fellow at the Century Foundation.