Category: Sustainable Urban

Anti Radiation & Immune Supporting Plants: Spider

The spider plant #Chlorophytumcomosum is considered one of the most adaptable of houseplants and the easiest to grow. While mostly used in containers or hanging baskets, they can be planted directly in the ground. When planting in a garden or flower bed, they need to be sheltered from direct sunlight.
 

This plant can grow in many conditions and suffers from few problems, other than brown tips. It gets its name from its spider-like plants, or #spiderettes, which dangle down from the mother plant like spiders on a web.

This plant was a part of NASA’s Clean Air Study. It is most effective in removing carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, Xylene, and toluene. It is better than many indoor plants that participated in that experiment. This National Wildlife Federation article claims that spider plant removes more than 95 percent of toxic agents from the air.

Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas that does not cause any irritation. It is produced by incomplete combustion of carbonaceous fuels such as wood, petrol, coal, natural gas, and kerosene. In urban areas, the primary source of this pollutant is exhaust from motor vehicles. Gas stoves, gas refrigerator, tobacco smoke, wood burning stoves, fireplaces, and other fossil fuel burners raise carbon monoxide level indoors.

Vital organs in our body such as the brain, nervous tissues, and the heart need oxygen to work properly. As the level of carbon monoxide level rises, oxygen in the hemoglobin reduces simultaneously. It increases the chance of CO poisoning in people suffering from chronic heart disease, anemia, or respiratory problems. Lack of coordination, fatigue and concentration problem are also associated with raised CO levels. Spider plant is effective in reducing indoor carbon monoxide level, which helps in decreasing fatigue, headaches, colds, sore throats, and flu-like symptoms caused by CO exposure.

WHO guidelines for indoor air quality, includes formaldehyde in its list of toxic pollutants. The significant health risk of formaldehyde is that it poses a carcinogenic risk and causes nose and throat cancer, claim by American Cancer Society and NIH. It can also irritate eyes, nose, throat and some other severe breathing problems and allergies.  This colorless, combustible, strong-smelling substance is monetarily utilized for making building items. Exposure of formaldehyde in a indoor space is mainly due to Urea-formaldehyde resin that is used for making adhesives of particle board wood. Brand-new flooring, furnishings, particleboard, paneling, cabinet, floor coverings, and mattresses also raise the danger of formaldehyde exposures. Some different sources of formaldehyde emissions are cooking, smoking, painting, beautifying agents, fuel combustion from traffic, etc.

When exposed to formaldehyde for 24 hours, spider plant reduced the formaldehyde levels by approximately 88 percent.

The spider plant absorbs water through its roots and then circulates the moisture through stems and leaves. Once the water reaches the leaves, it evaporates into the air and increases the humidity. The increased humidity decreases the risk of several airborne diseases, such as cold, cough, sore throat and flu-like symptoms. Growing a spider plants at home or office helps in keeping these diseases away and helps increase the concentration and productivity.

 Spider plants are also useful in absorbing #EMF radiation from your electronic devices

 
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Women History Month – Women in Sustainability (BWIN) : Majora Carter

Majora Carter redefined the field of environmental equality, starting in the South Bronx at the turn of the century. Now she is leading the local economic development movement across the USA.

 

Carter is an American urban revitalization strategist[1] and public radio host from the South Bronx area of New York City. Carter founded and led the non-profit environmental justice solutions corporation Sustainable South Bronx[2] from 2001 onward, before entering the private sector in 2008.

 

After leaving Sustainable South Bronx, Carter has served as president of a private consulting firm, Majora Carter Group, LLC (MCG). In the June 2010 issue of Fast Company magazine, Majora Carter was listed as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. In 2014, B Corporation (certification) recognized MCG as one of the “Best for the World” according to its ranking among other B Corps of similar size.

 

We are huge believers in sustainability as a key to the long-term health and wellness of Black women, our families, our neighborhoods, and our communities. How we care for, move, and interact with our environment will determine the quality of our lives and our health for the foreseeable future.

 

Check out one amazing health, wellness, and sustainability “sheroe”, Majora Carter, urban revitalization expert and CEO of the Majora Carter Group who gave an excellent TED Talk about her work and why greening our communities is so important.