Date of Award

Spring 5-7-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Environmental Studies

Advisor(s)

John Van Buren

Abstract

This paper addresses how there is a lack of green spaces and access to nature within big cities, and thus, we lose the ecosystem services provided naturally by plants, such as clean air and mental well-being. By filling an interior space with houseplants, some of these ecosystem services can be brought and utilized indoors. Chapter one describes the benefits of plant ecosystem services on human life and how human alteration, such as urbanization and the creation of large cities, diminishes the availability and accessibility of these natural systems. Chapter two examines the environmental history of human relationships with plants. For centuries, humans have connected with and used plants as a form of livelihood, and thus, many people even view plants as fellow living beings. The access to many of these natural ecosystem services plants provide has been lost due to human alterations over time. Chapter three discusses environmental health and psychology and how plants positively alter mental health, such as the benefits of stress relief, aesthetics, and leisure. This chapter also delves into plants’ effects on human health, such as the benefits of growing one’s own food, plants as medicine, the impact plants make on indoor and outdoor environments like air quality, and how these services can be recreated indoors. Chapter four introduces environmental design and architecture and how plant aesthetics can go beyond basic design so plants can become fully integrated into our lives. Finally, chapter five proposes initiatives that act upon the accessibility and awareness of these disciplines. It addresses solutions such as increased accessibility and availability to houseplants, along with solutions for design like rooftop/community gardens and long-term resolutions related to education.

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