Green Advices from "Living Green" II

These advices are from "Living Green" calendar, http://www.pageaday.com/
nota bene
The backs of spent pages from your Living Green Page-A-Day® calendar (made from recycled paper, of course) make excellent note sheets. They not only reduce your need to expend other paper, but also pass along tips on green consumerism! You can also use the notes from your everyday shopping or the back of office papers that you are done using.

in hot water
In offices, water heaters generally don’t need to be set as high as home units (a dirty coffee mug doesn’t require the scalding water that a greasy pan does). If the heater at your office still has the factory setting of 130° or 140°F, turn it down to 120° and save more than 6 percent in water heating energy.

taken to the cleaners
Commonly called perc, perchloroethylene is one of the main solvents used in dry cleaning. This chemical, linked to a variety of health problems including nervous system disruptions, liver problems, cancer, headaches, nausea, and dizziness, should not find its way into the environment. Many clothes that are dry cleaned could be washed by hand or in a washing machine’s gentle cycle. Or sidestep the issue by simply choosing clothes that don’t call for dry cleaning.The country’s dry cleaners use about 57 million pounds of perc each year, releasing about 12 million pounds of it into the air.

oil gone
Many dishwashing detergents contain petroleum products, an unnecessary use of oil. A vegetable-based dish soap is a greener alternative widely available in natural food stores and even many supermarkets.do your part: If every American household replaced just one 28-ounce bottle of petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with a vegetable-based product, the savings would amount to 82,000 barrels of oil.

thrifty donations
Don’t toss the crop of old clothes yielded by spring cleaning. Contributions to thrift shops and other donation centers cut solid waste and may be tax deductible. And these days, you never know; that old college T-shirt you give away could end up clothing a needy person somewhere on the other side of the globe.

leeward and windward
If spring weather has landscaping on your mind, think about using an old farm trick to guide your tree planting. Plant evergreens on your house’s windy side (usually west) and broadleaf varieties on the sunny side (normally south). That way, you’re catching sun in winter and shade in summer, and you’re screened from harsh winds year round.do your part: Strategic tree planting can reduce home heating and cooling costs by one-fourth.

no ifs, ands, or butts
If you smoke, never drop cigarette butts outside. Yes, they’re ugly litter that can take ten years to degrade. But there’s more: Many land and marine animals die from eating them, and lighted cigarette butts are a common cause of forest and grassland fires.

a graceful exit
Exit signs are small, it’s true, but they’re everywhere, and they’re on all day, every day. By replacing their 20- or 40-watt incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps that draw 10 or 20 watts less, businesses can save 50 percent or more on the cost of lighting the signs.

sustainable seafood
Wise seafood purchases can help sustain threatened populations of aquatic life. If the cost of wild seafood is prohibitive, choose farmed fish that are raised inland, which helps prevent diseases associated with farming from reaching wild fish. Proper farming also eliminates the problem of bycatch—the killing of fish caught unintentionally.do your part: The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch (http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp) has helpful ideas on seafood sustainability, including regional guides that tell what fish to buy for the least environmental impact.

the energy-efficient mortgage
Special loans are available to consumers who buy or build energy-efficient houses or improve existing homes. Energy-efficient financing may be granted through government-insured or conventional loans; some states offer their residents loan programs. It’s usually necessary to have an energy rater supply a report confirming that the house (or planned improvement) is genuinely efficient.do your part: See the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site (http://www.eere.energy.gov/) for loan details.

catch the rain
Set out an open-topped barrel or a washtub and gather pennies from heaven—to spend on sprinkling your garden, washing your car, or other activities that don’t require potable water.

nursing an idea
A woman’s stance on breast-feeding involves many considerations—most of them personal. Here’s one more element to consider: The manufacture of mother’s milk requires no combustion, packaging, or shipping. From the point of view of environmental impact alone, it’s hard to beat.

one person’s junk
A spring yard sale can put a few dollars in your pocket and keep a lot of good, usable stuff from the landfill.Boost sales with these tips:Organize stuff by category: kitchen appliances, holiday items, collectibles, furniture, and so on.Offer well-marked bargain boxes or tables.Put up posters, tell your friends, and advertise in local papers or online.Play with a theme. “Desperation Sale” or “Gently Used Goods” can win a smile and a visit from passersby.

the bicycle commuter
If you’re interested in riding your bike to work but your workplace doesn’t feature a shower, join a gym close to your office and use the facilities there.do your part: Eighty percent of bike commuters improve their heart and lung condition in four weeks—and employers benefit from fewer sick days and health insurance claims.

share the wealth
If you qualified for a tax refund this year, consider converting some of that windfall to good works with a contribution to an environmental charity.do your part: Take time to find a group that represents your interests and concerns. These five well-known organizations are among hundreds competing for your support: Clean Water Action (www.cleanwateraction.org/); Coast Alliance (http://www.coastalliance.org/); Friends of the Earth (www.foe.org/); Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org/); Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/).

insulation incentive
While you’re still thinking about taxes, keep in mind that improvements to your home’s insulation can reduce your bill under federal legislation passed in 2005. Homeowners may be eligible for a 10 percent tax credit on insulation purchase and installation, up to a total of $500.do your part: For details, visit http://www.simplyinsulate.com/.

a fair breeze
A growing number of American homes now employ “residential small wind,” turbine generation, to create most or all of the electricity they use. A turbine plus installation runs around $12,000, with a payback time of up to 15 years.The American Wind Energy Association, an industry organization, estimates that up to 13 million homes in North America are situated in climates that could support wind turbines.

disk management
The trouble with using plain old CDs to store music is that you can’t re-record them. Mess up when you burn one, or just get tired of what you’ve recorded, and you have a disk that’s only good for a coaster. Rewritable disks (CD-RWs) are a little more forgiving. Or use an MP3 player and forget the disks altogether.

vegetable ivory
Tagua, a tropical palm tree, produces nuts that closely resemble elephant ivory in look, feel, and carving properties. The difference is that tagua is a renewable product that doesn’t cost the lives of great animals. Buy tagua products and support a worthwhile alternative to the ugly trade in elephant tusks.do your part: Curios, chess sets, Christmas tree ornaments, boxes, and many other tagua products are available from One World Projects (http://www.oneworldprojects.com/).

an earth day resolution
In the U.S., Earth Day has been observed on tomorrow’s date since 1970. A great way to make the celebration your own is to volunteer with one of the many organizations working to safeguard the environment. Or you might decide to set yourself a goal, such as refraining from driving on Sundays or “greening” a particular habit.do your part: http://www.volunteermatch.org/ can help you find green work in your area. Many city governments are also beginning to implement volunteer placement branches.

second chances
Start your family thinking about whether they really need every article of clothing washed every time it’s worn. For socks and underwear, the answer is (definitely) yes; pants and skirts may be okay for a second or even a third wearing. With a little thought, you may be able do the laundry less often, saving water, detergent, and energy.

savings on the line
If it’s feasible where you live, a clothesline is a good alternative to your energy-hungry dryer. When there’s a breeze, your clothes dry almost as quickly, and with a fresher smell than any laundry product can give them.Americans’ dryers are often used as much as 28 hours a month. At that level, they consume up to 140 kilowatt hours. That’s roughly the equivalent of leaving two 100-watt lightbulbs burning for a solid month.

celebrating trees
Plant a tree for today’s national celebration of Arbor Day. Trees are lovely, they cool the landscape, and they absorb carbon dioxide and turn it into life-giving oxygen. Visit http://www.arborday.net/ for a list of state Arbor Day observances and information about how to receive ten free trees for planting.During an average tree’s 70-year life span, it will trap about 1.3 tons of CO2—about the emissions released by a car in traveling from Maine to California.

drip, drip, drip
A leaky faucet may get on your nerves, but it’d make you really crazy if you knew how much water it wastes. A calculator at http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sc4.html lays it out. For instance, if three faucets each dripped 20 drops a minute, 2,777 gallons would be down the drain each year. So fix the leak.

skeeter defeaters
Mosquitoes aren’t just annoying; they also transmit disease, including the potentially deadly West Nile virus. To stop them without dangerous insecticides, attack their habitat by eliminating standing water (behind clogs in roof gutters, for instance). If draining these spots isn’t an option, drop BTI pellets—which contain mosquito-targeted, larvae-killing bacteria—into the water. For a last-resort option, try a commercial spray containing eugenol, also known as clove oil.do your part: BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) is available online at http://www.gardensalive.com/

marginal savings
There’s more space on the page than you think. Your computer’s common default settings are 12-point type and 1.25-inch left- and right-hand margins. Try using 11-point type, 1-inch left-hand margins, and 0.5-inch right-hand margins.do your part: This simple change can help you fit 27 percent more information comfortably on a page. You’ll save paper and still have plenty of room on the margins.

size matters
In the last 65 years, the average size of American houses has increased by more than 1,200 square feet—while the average household has shrunk by a person. When buying a house, look for a place that fits your needs. The difference in the resources expended to build, maintain, heat, and cool it can be substantial.

think globally, eat locally
Because produce at farmers’ markets isn’t shipped hundreds, or even thousands, of miles, less fuel is burned in getting it to your table.do your part: Even in Iowa, one of the nation’s foremost agricultural centers, most fruits and vegetables are now imported. If Iowans bought just 10 percent more of their food from in-state, they could avoid 7.9 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

open up
Sweet spring days are made for open windows—save your air conditioners for the really hot days when you need them most. On average, cooling accounts for 7 percent of household energy use (more in hotter climates). Fans are an energy-thrifty alternative, using a fifth or less of the wattage needed for a window A/C unit. Juice up your fan’s performance by placing a pan of water in front of it.

the big chill
Your refrigerator can account for 15 percent of your home’s energy use. Tame it by setting it for maximum efficiency (typically, 0 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit for the freezer, 37 to 40 degrees for the cooler compartment), or just using the economy switch.

blue light special
Check the color of the pilot light on your gas stove. Blue is the color of efficient combustion. If you’re seeing yellow, it’s time to have the range serviced.

computing efficiency
Including its monitor, a desktop computer may use nearly 110 watts to do its work. Laptops, with their flat liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, are much more efficient, consuming 15 to 45 watts when fully on. Choose the laptop for everyday computing chores, and save space on your desktop, too.

gardening without poison
Many successful gardeners create beautiful flowerbeds and productive vegetable plots without resorting to pesticides. Their tactics for suppressing pests include releasing predator insects, using mechanical methods like water sprays to knock off aphids and mites, setting sticky traps for whiteflies, and more.do your part: Lots of chemical-free solutions to pest problems are available at http://www.gardensalive.com/.

moth repellents
Mothballs contain toxic naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene; they should be disposed of only through a licensed hazardous waste handler or a municipal hazardous waste collection program. Avoid buying them in the first place by protecting clothes in closed bags. Also try these aromatic moth repellents: cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, or whole cloves wrapped in cheesecloth.

outdoors without engines
Enjoy a day outside without resorting to internal combustion (and the noise and greenhouse emissions that go with it). Fish from the bank or in a rowboat, and hike instead of using a trail motorbike. In winter, head out on cross-country skis or snowshoes instead of a snowmobile.

weedkillers
There’s no need to resort to commercial herbicides to get rid of weeds awakened by warmer spring weather. Squirt them with lemon juice or vinegar, or scald them with boiling water. (The toughest ones may need two applications.)

fabric of improvement
Organically produced cotton clothes command a premium price, but their benefits are substantial. Conventionally grown cotton is drenched in pesticides and other chemicals; an average acre of California cotton receives 13 pounds of pesticides and herbicides, plus hundreds of pounds of synthetic fertilizer. Organic cotton growing avoids the runoff that this kind of agriculture produces.do your part: To find suppliers of organic cotton clothing, see this link from Coop America: http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/realmoney/articles/organiccotton2.cfm.

brain scan
Scanners have become a common office appliance, but in many offices, they’re used only occasionally. Switch yours off when it’s not in use. Scanners in networks can be switched off outside working hours.

take your medicine
The old recommendation that leftover and expired medicines be flushed down the toilet has been superseded. The EPA says many drugs are unchanged by wastewater treatment, so they may harm fish and encourage development of drug-resistant germs. Finishing all of a medicine eliminates the issue, and it’s almost always recommended by the prescribing doctor. You can also check whether your local hazardous waste program will accept expired medicines.

the drive to curb global warming
With summer coming on, many American families think about buying a new car. If you’re among them, consider a hybrid, which cuts both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The difference in lifetime greenhouse gas emissions is startling—75 tons of carbon dioxide in 100,000 miles for a big SUV, 40 tons for a typical sedan, and 20 tons for a Toyota Prius.

paperless finances
Every electronic transaction you make—direct deposit, automatic bill paying, online banking, e-marketing purchases, and online portfolio management—is a paper saver.A 2005 report by the Government Accounting Office showed that seven financial institutions under study had “implemented the major elements of a sound information security program.” Translation: Electronic records security, though not foolproof, is improving.

home grown
It’s not too late to get started on a vegetable garden. Come late summer, you’ll be enjoying the freshest beans, onions, and tomatoes available. And there’s added satisfaction in knowing that you grew them without pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, and that it didn’t take a drop of fuel to bring them to your doorstep.A study from Colorado State University says that if you account for the material costs of producing vegetables for mass consumption, home gardening yields a twentyfold increase in value.

your biggest fan
Ceiling fans make a big difference in air circulation—and the cost of heating and cooling. Install one and save up to 40 percent on the cost of air-conditioning the room in summer. In winter, the fan can reduce heating costs by 10 percent, moving heated air from the ceiling, where it’s wasted, to the floor.

vending machine savings
In most offices, the refrigerated vending machine runs all day and night. Talk to the machine’s operator about installing a Vending Miser, a sensing device that shuts down the cooling function when the break room’s been empty for a set period of time—often cutting energy use in half. Also ask your local electric utility; some will provide the $195 Miser at no charge.Portland, Oregon’s city hall saved about half the operating energy of a vending machine with this device.

maintaining neutrality
These days it’s all but impossible to live a life free of carbon emissions. Many people and organizations are working against this reality by participating in programs where they can purchase green credits “offsetting” the pollution they create. These credits may be donated to wind farms, solar installations, and energy-efficiency projects with negative carbon production. do your part: To learn more, visit a website like http://www.carbonfund.org/site or http://www.myfootprint.org/; the latter includes a quiz to help you determine your consumption “footprint” on the earth.

soaked with success
Soaker hoses enable you to apply irrigation water directly to the roots of your plants. Their delivery system is more efficient than sprinklers, which waste water through evaporation, spreading the spray through the air.
do your part: Soaker hoses can reduce water waste by as much as 70 percent.

reducing your overhead
Federal standards now require that new showerheads operate at 2.5 gallons per minute. According to EPA figures, replacing old showerheads (that spritzed 4.5 gallons per minute) can save a family of four about 20,000 gallons of water each year.

for thirsty lawns
It’s best to water your lawn or garden before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Doing so at midday sacrifices as much as 30 percent of your water to evaporation. Avoid watering on windy days, and break your watering into short segments. Lawns absorb water better in three ten-minute spells than in one half-hour stretch.

rinse cycle
If you’re going to rinse bottles for recycling, you can reduce the water waste by transferring the rinse water from one bottle to another until the job is done

unbleached
In its natural state, paper is off-white to brown—the color of trees! Most businesses can dispense with bleached office paper, whitened using chlorine, which makes its way into the environment and is associated with cancer, birth defects, and immune system damage. Unbleached products are available for all sorts of uses around the office: paper for copiers and printers, notepads and file folders, even toilet paper and paper towels.do your part: A list of unbleached office papers and sources appears at http://www.abag.org/.

wipe your feet
If you’re old enough, you may remember doormats made from cut-up pieces of tires. This retro solution is still around. These long-lasting mats provide enough friction to get the mud off your shoes, and they provide a market for recycled materials from tires.do your part: http://www.recycledtiremats.com/ has doormats and other products manufactured from worn-out tires.

picnic without waste
There’s a temptation to stock up on disposables when you eat alfresco, but it’s possible to enjoy your picnic with minimal waste. Take along a cloth groundcover and napkins, real utensils, and plastic containers for the food—and bring it all back, including the scraps. You’ll wind up with a civilized picnic that would make Martha Stewart proud.

architectural salvage
When houses come down, salvage and antiques firms across the country save doors, windows, joists, carvings, and many other one-of-a-kind artifacts from destruction. Use some of these materials in your new home and you’ll be reducing waste and bringing a piece of design heritage into the mix. Look things over carefully, though. You don’t want to incorporate pieces that will drastically increase your heating costs or bring a legacy of termites with them.do your part: See http://www.salvageweb.com/ for an active architectural salvage exchange online.

pedal pushing
It goes without saying that you eliminate your car’s exhaust fumes and greenhouse exhalations when you ride a bike. But avoid purchasing a second car altogether, and you’re also saving a lot on the manufacturing side. With the amount of energy it takes to make one car, a hundred bicycles can be made.do your part: Look for cycling tips at the League of American Bicyclists website: www.bikeleague.org/resources/better/beginningcycling.php.

judicious handling
Dare we ask—do you flush every time? Consider whether some trips to the bathroom might not end in a flush. You can save between 1.6 and 3.5 gallons by exercising a little judgment.

mail cull
If your company uses direct mail, save money and paper waste by cleaning up your mailing lists. It costs extra, but third-class mail can be sent with an option for return if undeliverable. Using these returns to cull your list means you can print (and waste) fewer mailers next time around. Your mailings will be more effective and will cost less to print and mail.do your part: To cut waste even more by deleting consumers who don’t want mailings from your list, see the Direct Marketing Association website: www.the-dma.org/.

the bride wore green
Anyone who’s ever worked in catering or event planning can tell you that after the partying is done, the cleaning up begins—and the rows of garbage bags start to accumulate. Want to reduce the environmental impact of your wedding? Send invitations on recycled paper (or via e-mail); arrange for digital photos; wear a treasured family gown in place of a new one; ask guests to donate to environmental causes in lieu of gifts (especially if you already have the household goods you need); and select a caterer who serves organic foods.

fuel cap
Around 17 percent of the cars on the road have gas caps that need attention, and the evaporation from the tanks of those autos accounts for 147 million gallons of wasted gas a year.If the gas cap on your car is damaged, loose, or missing, take time to visit the auto parts store and fix it. Evaporation wastes gas and adds to air pollution.

light from the sun
Replace all your outdoor lights with self-charging solar lights—they’re ideal for garden path luminaires, security floodlights, and patio lighting.

on down the road
A worthwhile alternative to simply condemning an old car to the junkyard is donation to a charity. Many will pick up the car, even towing it if it’s not drivable. Some will recondition it for sale at auction; others may use it for their own charitable business. Either way, your gift entitles you to a tax deduction.do your part: The Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity are two of many organizations that accept gifts of used cars.

the kindest cut
A manual reel mower saves your share of the fuel Americans consume each year in cutting their lawns. It provides a little workout every time you use it, and reduces neighborhood noise pollution as well.do your part: Fifty-four million Americans mow their lawns each weekend. They use 800 million gallons of gasoline annually, producing 5 percent of the nation’s air pollution. With your reel mower, you can keep 80 pounds of CO2 out of the air each year.

the economizer option
Many heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems in commercial buildings include an economizer feature that brings in air when it’s cooler on the outside. In many offices, you can’t open the windows, but you can talk to the building manager about using the economizer to save energy.

leash common denominator
Gentle as they may seem to us, our cats and dogs are descendants of carnivorous hunters. That heritage can be close to the surface. Vigilant owners can make sure that their animals don’t kill songbirds, game animals, and other wildlife. Often it takes no more than keeping your pet leashed or indoors.

beefing
A steak might be an American institution, but it comes with a side of environmental costs. Central and South American forests are being cut or burned down to provide pasture. Effluent from feedlots pollutes land and waters, and each cow produces 300 liters of methane—a greenhouse gas—every day. Consider reducing the amount of meat you eat; while the cows aren’t problematic in and of themselves, modern mass-farming methods take a toll.

beverage refill
In Canada and Europe, where the use of refillable bottles prevails, return rates exceed 90 percent. The market share for refillable bottles in the United States is still less than 4 percent of total packaged beer sales. Support this ecologically wise solution by purchasing from brewers and soft-drink bottlers who accept returns and reuse their bottles. You may also consider a little grassroots pressure: Write to companies and encourage them to return to this once-commonplace approach.

spin dry
No need to use paper towels to pat your salad greens dry. A salad spinner is an inexpensive, simple, human-powered gadget that does the job without producing needless waste.

cool enough for you?
The frigid settings of our public thermostats are a grave source of energy waste. While you can’t control the excess at your local mall, you can strike a balance between comfort and conservation by air-conditioning your living space to a pleasant 78 degrees.

ditching throwaways
There are plenty of ways to employ reusable items at the office. Opt for glasses, china cups, metal utensils, mechanical pencils, and refillable pens. To cut down on the main source of trash you’re likely to produce during the day, save money, and improve your health all at once, bring your lunch rather than buying.

on the beaten path
When you’re spending time at national or state parks—or any natural tourist spot—stick to the paths laid out for visitors. Otherwise you risk environmental damage like increased erosion, habitat degradation, and injury to rare plant species.

plan before you drive
A painless way to reduce your driving—and the fuel consumption, pollution, and greenhouse gas generation that it entails—is to think about all the errands you need to take care of before you get behind the wheel and plan accordingly. One ride covering a half-dozen stops can cut out five additional trips.

tooling along
Unless a tool is truly worn out or broken, there’s little reason to throw it away. If it’s grown dull with use, take it to a sharpening service or do the job yourself with a whetstone. If you’ve replaced it with something newer, donate it to a thrift shop, give it to a friend, or sell it to a used tool vendor—they abound at flea markets. Buying from those vendors also helps keep old tools in circulation and out of the landfill.

garden hose
Tights and pantyhose don’t usually last longer than one or two years before the inevitable snag or run sets in. Here’s an excellent reincarnation technique: Because they’re made of fabric that stretches and flexes, they’re perfect for binding plants to fences, poles, and stakes without damaging the plants’ stems and stalks.

rent, don’t buy
Many consumer items—tools, tenting, lawn and garden equipment, and so on—can be rented instead of purchased. If you’re only going to be using a garden tiller once a year, you’ve contributed to a relatively inefficient manufacture-to-use ratio; put that same piece of equipment into shared service as a rental, and the differential is vastly improved. And in the long run, you might also save money.

bulletin
Some offices are notorious for a near-plague of printed announcements and notices. To save paper, consign less-than-urgent memos to bulletin-board postings, or issue them via e-mail.

best dressed
Reduce the amount of clothing you buy and ultimately discard by dressing your children in hand-me-downs. Resist the pressure to follow every style trend in children’s clothing; since they grow out of things so fast, the only way to get efficient use out of an item is to stretch it out among siblings or across generations. You can also sharpen up your sewing skills to make clothes last longer.

a view to saving
Contemporary “superwindows” employ high-tech solutions—double panes, low-emissivity glazing, argon or krypton gas between panes—to block heat transfer. If your house is even a few years old or you’re currently building, it’s worth considering window replacement.do your part: These treatments are admittedly pricey, and the payback period can last as long as 15 to 20 years. But if superwindows were in full use nationwide, the U.S. could save four million barrels of oil and gas per day.

better by proxy
Diversify your portfolio by purchasing stock in companies with sterling environmental records. If you hold shares in firms that could use some improvement, dumping them isn’t necessarily the way to go: Instead, vote your proxies to reflect your opinions, and write to management. As a part owner of such companies, you are entitled to be heard. A gadfly can make a difference!

downsizing
If you’re not yet ready to choose a hybrid car, an attractive alternative can be one of the many very small cars now on offer. The VW Rabbit, Honda Fit, Dodge Caliber, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, and Mazda5 are stylish little numbers that get 35 to 40 miles per gallon of gas, compared to a big SUV, which gets about 15 miles to the gallon.

car wash tips
One visit to a commercial car wash can use 55 gallons or more of water. Wash your own car out of a bucket, fitting the hose with a spray nozzle for rinsing. If you can, park the car on your lawn—the gray water should be harmless, and your lawn will get a free watering.do your part: If you use a commercial car wash, check to make sure it’s one that recycles its water.

a new leaf
Keep a plant on your desk. House plants can abate rising levels of indoor air pollution at the office. Research from NASA shows that many plants are useful in absorbing harmful gases, cleaning the air in modern buildings.do your part: For a list of the ten most effective plants for removing formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon dioxide, see http://www.blankees.com/house/plants/air_cleaners.htm.