Vincent Paul C.

Tabares NatSci 112

BS – Accountancy 3 05-18-18

USES OF PLANTS
Plants are an important part of our world. They give us food, such as sweet fruits,
healthy vegetables, and tasty nuts. Wide, leafy plants give us shade on a hot
summer day. Plants also make the oxygen in our air. People and animals need
oxygen to breathe.

Plants give animals a safe place to hide from their enemies. Many animals make
their homes in trees and bushes. Flowering plants add colour and beauty to
gardens, parks, and yards. The many plants in our world make it a wonderful
place.

WHY HAVE PLANTS?

People have always intuitively sensed that contact with plants and nature is a
calming restorative tonic for body and soul.

Over 25 plus years, academics and scientist have researched houseplants to

establish exactly why and how they are good for us, our home, our schools, our
hospitals, our businesses and our environment as a whole and in doing so, they
have established that plants:

 Improve are quality and humidity levels;

 Reduce stress;
 Make people calmer and happier;
 Reduce workplace negativity;
 Reduce symptoms of discomfort and minor ailments;
 Reduce absenteeism;
 Speed up recovery from illness;
 Improve concentration, productivity, and creativity;
 Save energy;
 Absorb noise;
 Increase shopper dwell time by a half an hour when using in shopping
malls.
COMMONLY USED PLANTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

1. Aloe plant

The gel of the aloe plant has a number of healing properties. Not only
does it soothe skin burns and cuts, it can also help to monitor the air
quality in your home. The plant can help clear the air of pollutants found
in chemical cleaning products, and when the amount of harmful
chemicals in the air becomes excessive, the plants’ leaves will display
brown spots.
2. Snake plant

Snake plants don’t need much light or water to survive, so they’re an easy
choice for any corner of your home. The plant absorbs carbon dioxide
and releases oxygen during the night (while most plants do so during the
day), so add one to your bedroom for a clean-air boost.
3. Bamboo Palm

The attractive bamboo palm also made NASA’s list of top clean-air plants with a
purifying score of 8.4. It’s also particularly effective at clearing
out benzene and trichloroethylene. These need to be well-watered, in shade or indirect
sunlight.
4. Spider plant

One of the most common house plants, spider plants are decorative, easy to grow, and
also make the NASA list of the best air-purifying plants. Spider plants are effective
at fighting pollutants including benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene.
5. Golden Pothos

The golden pothos makes the NASA list for its ability to clear formaldehyde from the air.
Try adding it to your kitchen or living room as a hanging plant, as the leaves will grow
down in cascading vines. They grow easily in cool temperatures will low levels of sunlight.
 OTHER HELP AND BENEFITS

Plants help improve air quality

There is general agreement amongst scientists that plants improve the indoor
environment and are useful in fighting the modern phenomenon of Sick Building
Syndrome (SBS).

No specific cause of SBS has been identified but poor air quality, excessive
background noise and inadequate control of light and humidity are all thought
to be important factors.

Because plants have large surface areas and exchange gases and water with
their surroundings, plants can help tackle some of these issues.

Particular benefits of interior plants include:

1. Reducing carbon dioxide levels

2. Increasing humidity
3. Reducing levels of certain pollutants, such as benzene and nitrogen dioxide
4. Reducing airborne dust levels
5. Keeping air temperatures down

Plants help reduce stress and create a feeling of well-being

Most of us know instinctively that being close to greenery makes us feel more at
ease with our surroundings. We experience less stress when there are plants
around us. Buildings are quieter and more relaxed but, at the same time, more
stimulating and interesting. A substantial body of academic research, has shown
conclusively that interior landscaping has dramatic effects on the wellbeing of
building occupants.

People in offices are more productive, take fewer sick days, make fewer
mistakes, and they are happier when interior landscaping enhances their
environment.

Patients in hospitals benefit greatly from being more in touch with nature. There
is even evidence showing students perform better in improved learning
environments.
Plants help lower background noise

Plants have long been used to reduce noise from busy roads. More recently,
research has shown another benefit: interior plants can help to reduce
background noise levels inside buildings, too.

Our own studies indicate that plants and their leaves absorb, diffract or reflect
background noise, thereby making the environment more comfortable for the
occupants.

With our support, Peter Costa, a postgraduate student at South Bank University,
London, found that certain plants are particularly good at absorbing high
frequencies.

Plants absorb sound best in acoustically live spaces, such as those that feature
hard surfaces. Learn more about the benefits of interior landscaping.

Trees like Mahogany and other flower bearing trees are most likely found in the
roadsides of the Philippines.

FACTS ABOUT THE LARGEST RAINFOREST IN THE WORLD: THE AMAZON RAINFOREST

-The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet"
because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously
recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world
oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

-At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical
rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts,
figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and
tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams;
spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar
cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.
INSIGHTS AND LEARNINGS:

Every one of us, specifically in our homes, wanted a clean and fresh air to
breathe. After reading a lot of articles about the benefits of plants in our homes
and to environment, I’ve appreciated the benefits of these plants to me and
also to my family due to the fact that our family are practicing this kind of
having a plant inside our house for a long time. At first, I thought it was just an
aesthetically pleasing display inside our house but after reading some articles
I’ve realized that it had a lot of benefits for human wellness. Moreover, our
planet today is experiencing rapid decrease in amount of present plants and
trees in our environment which gives us oxygen that we breathe. That’s why, for
me, having plants even in our small gardens and planting trees are a huge help
for our environment maintain its amount of oxygen enough for human
consumption and also for cooling the Earth as it experiences Global Warming
nowadays.

SOURCES:

http://www.pklifescience.com/article/448/all-about-
plantslogin?username=thealberta&password=library

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/29/best-houseplants-
destress_n_2964013.html

https://www.ambius.com/learn/benefits-of-our-services/

http://www.urbanplanters.co.uk/benefits-of-plants/

http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm#.Wv04m6SFOUk