The first generation of Millennials to grow up in the digital age are now young adults, abandoning their committed high-tech lifestyle and pledging to adopt healthier lives centred around plant parenthood.

The last few decades have seen a huge surge in house plants purchased globally. This is said to be mainly due to the reduction in size of residential spaces and the correlating private outdoor areas, although global warming and the benefits of plants on mental health has also had a major impact on the trend.

The Netherlands (The world’s largest producers of plant life) has increased sales from $6 billion in the year 2000 to $9 billion 3 years later. Europeans in the same year spent over $42 billion on house plants and American millennials are said to account for 1/3 of plant sales universally…

So, which house plants are the most beneficial for your body, home and of course the planet?

Here’s Green Motion International’s top oxygen producing plants to better your quality of life (all of these plants are notoriously hard to kill so, if you’re not green fingered you still have no excuse).

• Snake Plant aka 'Mother-In-Law’s Tongue'
• Gerbera Daisy
• Peace Lily
• Aloe Vera
• Chinese Evergreens/ Pothos
• Areca Palm

It is common in most plants for photosynthesis to cease at night time, which means that oxygen production levels will also halt increasing the levels of Co2. There are however, a few plants that do continue to photosynthesize throughout the night providing you with better quality air. Orchids and succulents such as Aloe Vera, Areca Palm, Snake Plant, Gerbera and peace lilies, all purify the air by removing benzene and trichloroethylene which are harmful pollutants commonly found in homes and offices.

Plants release roughly 97% of the water they absorb, which means that the air surrounding vegetation will be far more humid than an area without plant life. Humid air is preferable to avoid respiratory ailments, dry skin, colds, sore throats and dry coughs.

The benefits of indoor plants have been proven by Kansas University as vital to the quick recovery of patients staying within hospitals and hospices. Adding plants to a select number of patient’s rooms enabled the researchers to identify that those in close vicinity to the plants had quicker recovery times, used less pain medication, have lower heart rates and blood pressure, experience less fatigue and anxiety, and are released from the hospital sooner. Similarly, a study conducted in Norway saw that offices containing plant’s saw a reduction of employee sickness by 60% and another study saw attentiveness in students studying in rooms with plants rise by 70%.

How Many Plants Do I Need?

If you’d like to decrease stress and improve wellbeing within space then, It is said that one large plant with a pot (8inch Diameter pot +) should be placed for every 129 square foot of building to improve air quality. Although, the aesthetics of plants are equally as beneficial to the mind as the physical health benefits so ensure that a plant is visible from every point in the room.

If you’d like to clean the air then, place 15-18 plants (in 6-8-inch diameter pots) for every 1,800-square-feet in your home, this equates to one larger plant to every 100 meters of space.