Good Nature: Why Seeing, Smelling, Hearing, and Touching Plants Is Good for Our Health

Willis (biodiversity, Univ. of Oxford; Botanicum) examines what happens in people’s bodies and minds when they tap into their senses and interact with plants and nature. She describes a wide variety of carefully controlled experiments conducted around the world—Japan, Scandinavian countries, and other places—that provide scientific proof of how plants and nature played a role in decreasing physiological and psychological stress or increasing recovery and immune responses. Many reactions were triggered by color, specific scent molecules, soil microorganisms, textures, and the ability of “green wall” plantings to remove airborne pollutants. The highlighted studies demonstrate on a macro scale that bringing plants and natural materials (or even images of greenery and flowers) into homes and work environments can improve people’s mental and physical health.