Breathe new life into your workplace
This New Year, one easy-to-keep resolution for a healthier you (and your staff), is to get some office plants.
Businesses can spend a lot of money and time dealing with absenteeism, poor productivity and stress in the workplace, but there is a simple and cost-effective way to alleviate all of these problems – the humble office plant.
Study after study has found that plants can improve productivity, enhance creative thinking, reduce stress and common health complaints and even simply make us happier.
Increasingly, we are working in offices without views of nature from our window, and sometimes without windows at all, and we are beginning to feel the effects of this.
In a recent report by Human Spaces a third of people questioned stated that the design of an office would affect their decision to work somewhere, listing natural light, then indoor plants, as the most important elements in a desirable workplace.
And they have good reason to want these simple things: the report also found that those who work in environments with natural elements (greenery and sunlight) report higher levels of wellbeing, productivity and creativity.
Other reports, including one by NASA, have found that ‘Sick Building’ symptoms, such as sore throats, headaches and stress are noticeably reduced by the presence of live plants.
One reason for their healing powers is that plants clean the air of many of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by modern office furnishing, paints and electronic goods which have a knock-on effect on our health. Having plants in an office has been found to considerably reduce symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, sore throats and coughs, often brought about by poor air quality.
And if you still need convincing, here are some more plant facts:
- Plants can reduce fatigue by 20%, coughs by 40%, headaches by 30% and sore throats by 30%;
- Enriching an office with plants could increase workplace productivity by 15%;
- People working indoors with plants in their line of vision do tasks a staggering 12% faster and are able to concentrate better than people who don’t have plants in the room;
- Having a plant nearby has been proven to increase productivity for people who sit and work at a computer for more than four hours per day;
- Plants also help with workplace productivity by absorbing noise – great for open plan offices.
Here is Urban Planters top ten of hardest working plants for cleaning the air:
- Bamboo Palm
- Boston Fern
- Kimberley Queen Fern
- Areca Palm
- Gerbera Daisy
- Florist’s Mum
- Peace Lily
- Dwarf Date Palm
- Rubber Plant
- English Ivy
Hopefully there is enough proof here of the business case for office plants, but if you want to find out more about their many benefits, or for inspiration on how to make your workplace greener, visit Urban Planters website: www.urbanplanters.co.uk.
