People go to great lengths for a breath of fresh air. Clean air is human's biggest, the most frequent necessity.

I've been living in a city for my whole life. My apartment is right next to a parking lot and we get a lot of exhaust fumes. To make it clean, I would need expensive HEPA filters and who knows what else. I'm sure this low-tech method doesn't provide the same results, but it does provide some.

Plants, proven efficient air purifiers. NASA has delivered us info on that years ago, still, not all people create forests in their homes. I hope this post will encourage you to develop your own collection, I want to show you mine.

Almost all plants purify something from the air, some are better than others. I've found the best houseplants are those that require the least maintenance, because they are most likely to survive... My survivors have been with me for years. Let me present you...

Ficus benjamina (Weeping fig)

I have five dwarf indian fig plants and one bigger. The bigger one I will feature in a different post. I keep it outside of the apartment so it doesn't count as an air purifier.

These plants purify formaldehyde, toluene and xylene from the air.

For the weeping fig it is crucial to not move them too much. If they get light from different directions, they stop juice flow to old leaves. The leaves turn yellow and the plant releases them. Be sure that light exposure to these plants is consistent.

Water them once a week in the winter and every 3-4 days in the summer.

Every few years, transplant them to a larger container to make them grow bigger. If you want to keep them small, clean and cut their roots to make a bonsai. As with any house plant, don't leave them in the same container for too long. If you do, their roots spiralize and block water drainage. Then they go rotten in the water-sogged conditions.

Sansevieria sp. (Snake Plant)

The snake plant is the #1 low maintenance house plant.

It grows in little to almost no soil, it doesn't need fertilizer.

It needs almost no water.

It can grow with inconsistent, scarce light. A lamp you turn on every now and then is enough to keep it alive and growing. That means you can grow it even in rooms with no windows, and with no fancy grow lights.

As if that's not enough, it's one of the best air purifiers in the game.

It takes care of these pollutants: formaldehyde, nitrogen oxide, benzene, xylene and trichloroethylene. Hell yeah!

Propagation requires little knowledge and experience. I'll make a post about it soon.

Epipremnum aureum (Devil’s Ivy)

What a silly name for a plant. This one I like because it is so forgiving... I've killed many of them, but I always have some growing. It has aerial roots that turn into real roots in contact with wet soil and a shoot is a new plant.

It doesn't like water sogged conditions. It can sustain itself in dry soil for weeks because of the thick folliage. It's best to make good drainage and water it once a week.

It hates direct sunlight, so don't leave it on the window in the summer, put it where the light is dimmer. If you leave it in the sun, which I have done before, it's leaves look like they got burned.

Good at purifying trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, xylene and benzene.

We are dependant.

For some last words, I want to express my love and gratitude for the green. We are 100% dependent on plants as biological organisms. Plants are the primary sources of energy for us as a species and the whole ecosystem of planet Earth. They provide us with all our nutritive needs. Even if you're a meat eater, you eat second hand plant food. Hard to imagine a world without plants. We would soon suffocate in an atmosphere saturated with CO2 and other harmful gases.

So let's help them grow!

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you did, be sure to follow me for more! I like gardening, permaculture, philosophy, the blockchain, off-grid living, anarchism... If we have similar interests leave a comment below so I can check out your blog!

Also, I'm currently building a small community of people here on STEEM. A society of people whose ethics is the first principle and who value ecology.