The air inside our homes can be up to 5x more polluted that the air outside, with toxins coming off everyday items like paint, scented candles, cleaning products and even furniture.

Plants have air-purifying properties. This was proven in the 80s when NASA conducted research to see if plants could help clean the air for astronauts living in the International Space Station. This data was declassified years ago, but nobody has truly done anything with it. Many plant retailers advertise their plants as ‘air-purifying’ - but never go into the specific details about the pollutants and which one’s can help clean the in our homes.

Plant Drop is an online retailer for plants. But they face stiff competition and exist in a saturated market with little differentiation. They needed a way to set themselves apart and steal market share, whilst also enticing a new audience into the world of plants.

Plant Drop launched SMART PLANTS, rebranding an existing range of houseplants as air-purifiers for the home. Working with a lead botanist from Oxford University they created the ‘Pollutant Absorption System’ – a design system that highlights the 5 main toxins found in the home, and which ones each plant can help remove.

The system was displayed on stickers on pots and plant tags that were placed in the soil, as well as being integrated into the online buying process.

A new e-commerce tool reinvented the plant-shopping experience. A simple questionnaire about lifestyle served customers plants that would help create a healthy, pollutant free home. If you’ve recently painted, for example, opt for the Red-edged Dracaena, as it has the power to remove benzene and xylene from the air – toxins given off by paint and solvents.

We wanted to engage a wide audience and make them aware that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to buying house plants. We broke down complex science into something everyone could understand – pulling out the 5 main toxins found in homes and making people aware of where they come from. For instance, the harmful chemical benzene if often found in paint/cigarette smoke, whilst ammonia is given off by cleaning products.

This hyper-targeted approach changed the way consumers shopped for plants. Instead of buying plants based on appearance, they now bought plants based on their lifestyle. If they had recently painted or smoked, they could opt for the Red-edged Dracaena, as it has the power to remove benzene from the air. Alternatively, if they had pets, they could buy the Weeping Fig as it has the power to remove xylene, a toxin given off by flea treatments.

Inspired by the ‘Energy Rating System’ for household appliance, we created the ‘Pollutant Absorption System’ for house plants. Complex NASA data detailing plant variants and the toxins they can help remove was distilled down into a simple, easy-to-understand key. The design system fused together the design language of molecule structures with the visual aesthetic of plants and educated people about the 5 main toxins found in the home, and what items give them off.

The ‘Pollutant Absorption System’ changed the way consumers shopped for plants. Instead of buying plants based on looks, they now bought plants based on their lifestyle. If they had recently painted or smoked, they could opt for the Red-edged Dracaena, as it has the power to remove benzene from the air. Alternatively, if they had pets, they could buy the Weeping Fig as it helps remove xylene, a toxin given off by flea treatments.

The Pollutant Absorption System democratised clean air data for the masses – breaking down thousands of data points into an easy-to-understand system. Consumers now had a better understanding about the toxins inside their homes and could now buy plants based on their lifestyle and living arrangements instead of just looks.

The new system encouraged people who used to buy just one plant, to buy multiple plants to offset the different toxins in their homes – toxins that they never even knew existed. Plant Drop saw a 64% spike in web traffic since the campaign launched, over 50% of customers buying more than one plant in the Smart Plant range.

Plant Drop believe that everyone should have the right to breathe clean air. So the Pollutant Absorption System made open-source and free to download online for other plant retailer to adopt and integrate into their own e-commerce sites.