Recycled Tire Playground Views
It is back to school time, and whether you child plays at a park or a school, you have probably been on a playground that uses recycled tires for cushioning. In the past, I have questioned the safety of children playing with old tires; however, I remember enjoy tire swings immensely as a child. Now, the Green Guide has reported on the safety of recycled tire cushioning found on many playgrounds.
A few years ago, we installed new playground equipment at our school. As the teacher in charge of the project, I was encouraged by parents to explore the option of recycled tires for cushioning, which comes in either a mulch or mat. At first, I thought this was a good idea as it involved recycling and really does provide a great cushioning, but in the end we chose pea gravel for cost, environmental, and safety concerns.
When you consider the potential risks to our children, as well ecological risks to fish and wildlife, recycled tires are not the best choice for playground cushioning. The Green Guide recommends wood chips; however, I feel that pea gravel is a more sustainable option that needs replenishing less often to meet the cushioning requirements. The next time my kids want to play on a recycled tire playground, I think we will walk on by to a playground made with safer materials.
Growing up in the 60=′s/70 ′s, when, for the most part consumerism & consupmtion for the majority of the population was not an issue, I believe that however we can recycle/reuse post consumer waste is a very positive thing. Practically everything that is recyclable has some form of toxint…therefore the reason it is NOT biodegradeable (with the exception of paper productsg…maybet…)r…So, we either find a way to reuse/recycle C– especially those items that are next to impossible to get rid of or they continue to fill the landfills. Given the current information on the effect on children playing on these playgrounds, the exposure to children from recycled/reused tires would be negligigable in comparison to our children/’s future 10-20 years from now>…(or less<…)
Recycled Tire Playground Images
