2 Comments / By Melina Divani / August 25, 2019
With the limited time and the huge number of maintenance tasks that most people have to contend with in their lives it can be tempting to take a few shortcuts. Your life is probably already filled with a lot of artificial stuff so you might think that adding some fake plants into your home is a better idea than using real plants that will need to be taken care of. While you can get away with a few artificial plants it might not be a good idea to overdo it though. Here’s a few reasons why fake plants can be a bad option for your home.
Image: ENTRANCE
Fake plants are bad for Feng Shui.
Feng Shui is about maintaining and reinforcing the natural balance. It focuses on creating a balance between the natural elements of fire, earth, wood, water, and metal. Natural plants feature wood, water, and earth so they are great for helping keep your home’s Feng Shui in balance. Some plants are also used to reinforce specific Feng Shui aspects, such as luck and prosperity. Fake plants made of synthetic materials don’t really work to improve your household Feng Shui. They are often considered to subtract from it as they add a disharmonious element into your home decor. If you want to keep your home’s natural energies in balance then use real plants rather than artificial ones.
Image: @deecampling
Real plants are better for your physical health.
Real plants give off pleasant natural smells, help turn carbon-dioxide into oxygen, and help clean the air of toxic particles. Artificial plants can’t do any of these things. While the plants around your home aren’t going to make a huge impact to larger air quality or pollution issues they help offset smaller issues and help keep your home a healthy place to live.
Image: @kerrylockwood_
Too much artificiality is bad for your mental health.
Impostor syndrome is a condition that many people suffer from. If you feel like you are faking your competence at work or that you are not up to the social challenges in your life then surrounding yourself with fake plants can add to that anxiety. No matter how real looking a plant is you will know that it is fake as you were probably the one who bought it and that can help contribute to a bad mind state. You need some real things mixed into your life to offset all the fakes that modern life is filled with and house-plants are a good place to add that authenticity.
Image: Marzena Marideko
More plastic waste to pollute the environment.
If you’re an environmentally conscious person then you’ve probably heard about the issue of plastics finding their way into the sea and the ecosystem. There’s a huge amount of plastic waste floating in the ocean right now and some of it finds its way into the stomachs of sea creatures such as whales and dolphins. Artificial plants made from plastic add to that problem whereas real plants just end up making their way back into the biosphere with no negative impact.
Image: Jenny Keenan Design
While artificial plants aren’t exactly evil they can be bad if you fill your house with them. Some spots around your home might be okay for a fake plant as real plants can’t grow in some interior areas that are short on light, but try to use as many real plants as you can. They are better for your mental health and better for home decoration. In a world filled with artificiality it’s just nice to have something real to look at and to tend to.
