Jul 16, 2009, 14:33 GMT
Sydney - Along with the free coffee and biscuits, indoor plants are often casualties when recession-damaged companies look for cost savings.
However, de-greening the office is a big mistake, according to Ambius Asia-Pacific head Ray Borg.
'There's now a direct link to the bottom line for employers from indoor plants,' says Borg. 'Creating greener spaces indoors means healthier and more productive workplaces and improved customer environments, improving the well-being for all.'
Ambius is the world's largest provider of indoor plants, so Borg is not a disinterested party when it comes to greenery. He cites research from around the world to back up his case against office desertification.
Researchers at the University of Technology in Sydney have found that office plants improve air quality by absorbing gases emitted by plastics and other petroleum-based products.
At the University of Surrey in Britain, a team looking at stress levels found they were reduced when pot plants were present. The more boring the activity - data entry or cold calling at call centres, for example - the greater the soothing effect of the palms in the corner.
In an experiment carried out at Washington State University in Seattle, a windowless computer laboratory was picked and participants studied when plants were present and when they were not. The US researchers found the blooms reduced blood pressure and gave workers a 12-per-cent quicker reaction time on various computer tasks.
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