In our modern world, going green is the way to go – be it on the individual or family level, or at the level of enterprises. Plants have always been associated with the feeling of serenity – specially the green ones. A new study has brought more weight to this concept. The research work showed that adding plants in offices makes the environment a happier and more productive one altogether. The paper was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

Green spots have shown to be beneficial to mental health, as illustrated by studies done in the past. ‘Green’ has also been associated with heightened productivity. The new study has laid more emphasis on this aspect, examining the long-term effect – the study extended over a period of several months – in a real-work setting. The researchers evaluated the work environment with and without greeneries, calling the former “lean environments”, and the latter “green environments”. Thereafter, it was shown that adding plants in the lean office environments accounted for a 15 % increase in productivity. The authors of the research paper interpreted the results to mean that the employees were more inclined to involving themselves in the work on the physical, mental and emotional planes. They were happier, and hence could deliver work of better quality.

The researchers also explained that their results have questioned whether lean officers which have more space for the workers (stemming from modern ideas) boost productivity or not. They went further saying that adding plants renders the environment more comfortable and enjoyable for a place of work. It was also suggested that the employees might feel that their employers care for them, all of which would add up to boosting their efficiency at work.

In short, the study put forward that green makes people happy, and happy people are more productive.