Houseplants can make your home calmer, cleaner and healthier
We can’t consider the benefits of natural materials without taking a look at other ways of bringing the natural world into our homes and workplaces. (There’s a reason why so many dentists have aquaria full of tropical fish in their waiting room) Houseplants are an obvious and affordable example. Apart from the fact that they’re good to look at, they work hard at tackling the toxins that swirl around in our homes, many of which are created by electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones and a rapidly growing number of smart devices.
How natural materials can help reduce the stress epidemic?
Back in 2001, the World Health Organisation predicted a dramatic rise in stress-related disorders, warning that by 2020, depression would be the second-highest contributor to global disease. That’s no longer in the future, that’s now. so anything we can do to offset stress is welcome and can make a real difference to our mental health. We’re not all in the fortunate position of having total control of our work environment, but our homes are a different matter.
What are natural materials and why do they matter?
Let’s start with a simple definition: a natural material is any product or physical matter that comes from plants, animals, or the ground. Minerals and the metals that can be extracted from them are also included. The backlash against using plastic in our homes and in the workplace might seem like a relatively new phenomenon, but a preference for using natural materials has been growing since the 1980s.