which is healthier, a dog or a plant?

Now I've heard it all!  If your friend is seriously concerned about his oxygen
supply he sould get rid of his dog and wife and sleep only with plants.   

All living organisms conduct respiration.   ONLY green plants carry on
photosynthesis.  This means that the friend, his wife, and the dog are all
using up the oxygen supply and also releasing carbon dioxide.  And they are
not contributing anything to the oxygen supply.

If they had green plants, the plants would also conduct respiration, consuming
oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.  But the plants, and only the plants,
would also carry on photosythensis and consume carbon dioxide and release
oxygen. 
Without green plants nothing on this planet would breath because there would
be no oxygen (O2).   

In order for a plant to grow, photosynthesis must far exceed respiration.
Growing plants consume more carbon dioxide then they release.  And they
release more oxygen than they consume.  So the end result is a supply of
oxygen and less carbon dioxide.  The dog, on the other hand doesn't supply any
oxygen but uses it up, and also adds carbon dioxide to the air.  If one  had
to choose, one would have to reason that  living with a plant is healthier
than living with a dog.  But thanks to green plants, it is a choice we don't
have to make.  They provide plenty of air for all living things.

I don't have any actual figures offhand, but there was a classic study
conducted by Joseph Priestly in the 1700s.  He found that mice placed in a
closed container  eventually died because carbon dioxide exceeded oxygen.
When he placed a plant in the same glass container with a mouse, they could
coexist indefinately as O2 and CO2 were in correct balance.   (I guess this
was the first terrarium.)  

So tell your friend he can breath easier if he gets some houseplants.  The
best part is that he can keep his wife and his dog, too!  --Janis

Original post:
>>Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 10:41:52 +0000
From: Susan Augustyn <augustyn@colby.ixks.com>

I wonder what quantities of CO2 gas are released by houseplants at
night.

I have a friend who won't let his wife have house plants because he
doesn't want to compete for oxygen.  This is a stupid bully tactic on
his part, I think, since he allows the dog to sleep in the bedroom.

The ammount of CO2 given off by plants has to be very miniscule, in my
mind, which is why I would like some hard core facts to show him
regarding respiration amounts. In particular, compared with the CO2
released by the dog, per hour, at say 72 degrees F and 50% humidity (for
control purposes).<<


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