This week (9-13 July) is National Plants at Work week, the time when we celebrate the many virtues of the office plant.
Interior landscapers across the country will be launching a range of activities to sing the praises of plants and encourage more businesses make more workplaces happier, healthier and more productive by investing in greenery.
As we spend more and more time indoors (some figures have put it at an average of 90% of the time), the need to reconnect with nature and to create healthy indoor spaces becomes ever more vital, and plants play an important part in this.
There are many health and economic benefits of plants in the workplace and National Plants@Work Week has named 10 of the best reasons to have plants in your workplace:
- Our biological need to connect with nature called biophilia;
- To help clean and refresh the air inside and also reduce dust particles;
- To help keep our stress levels manageable;
- To act as a happiness barometer – research tells us that plants help to lift our spirits;
- Amazingly being surrounded by plants also raises our productivity levels – a good reason for any employer to invest;
- If you need help with concentration, invest in some interior planting as it can improve it by 23% and more;
- Plants can deflect and diffract sound especially in open plan offices;
- Having plants around improves humidity levels helping to keep us comfortable;
- Green walls can help to buffer outside noise as well as insulate the building;
- Green roofs offer thermal insulation and a good view for your neighbours which is good for them too according to research.
So, office plants have been proven to work hard for us in our workplaces, but of course, they also look great and can completely transform an indoor space. The rising popularity of living walls and indoor trees takes the aesthetic benefits of plants to a whole new level. There is a plant and a container to suit any setting, and professional interior landscapers are skilled at choosing the right specimens to suit the conditions and decor of any workspace.
What’s more, research has proven that simply being able to see a plant or any view of nature can improve our sense of wellbeing, so even their good looks make a difference.
Next week, we at Urban Planters will be busy promoting office plants around the UK. Look out for posts on social media from us and our clients, who will be showing off the office plants we have installed in their workplaces with the #plantsatworkweek. Keep an eye on our Facebook , Google Plus and Twitter feeds to see what we’re up to.
For more information on National Plants at Work Week, click here.