Green Space is Necessary for Life!

Are plants just pretty or do they really make our lives better? Look around you the next time you drive through town. Are there enough green spaces around your community? Research has found that plants are beneficial to our health and psychological wellbeing.

University of Illinois researcher Bill Sullivan, Associate Professor of Horticulture, studied these issues. Dr. Sullivan’s research addressed the question, “Does having everyday contact with nature affect a person’s functioning?” That is, is there a connection between the presence of nature and effective human functioning?

Frances Kuo and Bill Sullivan of the University of Illinois Human-Environment Research Laboratory studied these concepts in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes, the largest public housing development in the world. The Robert Taylor Homes consist of twenty-eight 16-story apartment buildings. Most of the complex is an urban desert – concrete and asphalt cover the spaces between the buildings – but there are pockets of trees here and there. Kuo and Sullivan studied how well the residents of Robert Taylor were doing in their daily lives based on the amount of contact they had with these trees.

The study found that when compared to people who live in places without trees, residents of Robert Taylor Homes who live near trees have significantly better relations with, and stronger ties to their neighbors. Trees are important. Frances Kuo put it well when she said, “Before we started our research I would have said, trees are nice, but the problems we’re facing in our cities and our budgets are such that I’m not sure it’s worth it.” “I think that through this research I have become convinced that trees are really an important part of a supportive, humane environment. Without vegetation, people are very different beings.”

For more information visit the Human-Environment Research Laboratory website. The information is certainly applicable to smaller towns as well.

Plants in my home office be a window that
looks onto the plants in my backyard. 

But plants are just as important indoors too. Plants are an integral part of our homes, offices, and shopping malls. This is not just a fad. Plants serve a purpose in these places by filling a psychological need, enhancing our environment, and are also a satisfying hobby. But more than that, indoor plants help cleanse the air! A study done by NASA investigated the potential use of plants as reducers of indoor air pollution on Earth, and in future space habitats. They found that certain plants not only clean the air of pollutants, but also reduce airborne microbial levels and increase humidity.

Research in these areas will continue at the University of Illinois and beyond. For those of us who love plants, the results are not surprising. Plants are a necessary part of our lives!

Originally Published in Canton Daily Ledger Column 9-23-2000