Archive for the ‘Parks’ Category
Friday, July 20th, 2012
A large part of the beauty and function of a playground is the fact that it is a clean, safe place for children to play. This oasis of safety is breached when cigarettes enter the playground. The abundance of cigarette butts found in playgrounds around the country is increasing, a disturbing fact. The problem is twofold: second-hand smoke is known to be harmful, and when the cigarettes are thrown on the floor rather than put out in ashtrays children end up having access to them.
Forsyth Park, in Savanahh, Georgia, is victim to countless cigarette butts littering playground flooring. Rubber mulch is excellent for children, but the dirty cigarette butts get mixed in with the mulch, contaminating it with smoke and germs. Different cities have varying laws in regards to smoking in playgrounds. Smoking is allowed in Forsyth Park, but smokers may not light up within ten feet of an outdoor playground. There are obviously many people breaking the law because the mulch is littered with cigarette butts. It is possible that some cigarettes are blown in with leaf blowers and wind.
In order to rectify the situation the city must completely remulch the park. Rubber mulch flooring is the safest playground flooring available, and Playsafer mulch has been approved by the ASPCA. However, remulching requires tax dollars that would otherwise be put to good use. Those who shop rubber mulch can find great deals when purchasing bulk rubber mulch, but the expense is still one that can easily be prevented by smokers abiding by the rules.
Many cities and communities are considering banning smoking in or near parks altogether. In fact, the skateboard park in Warwick’s Veterans Memorial Park already is a tobacco-free zone and trustee Bill Lindberg recently announced that he is looking into expanding that ban.
Many cities spend hard-earned tax dollars on playground mulch in order to keep children safe, and smokers who contaminate the mulch work to reverse all the safety that the mulch enforces.
Tags: playground mulch, rubber mulch, rubber mulch for playgrounds
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Mulch, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, playground surfacing, Playsafer mulch, Rubber, rubber mulch, Rubberecycle | Comments Off
Monday, June 18th, 2012
As summer heats up there’s no better way to occupy the kids than to visit America’s coolest playgrounds. Many commercial playgrounds being built today feature rubber mulch flooring and rubber wearmats as staples in their equipment, because the mulch has been proven to provide added safety measures that go unmatched. Ranging across the United States, these incredible playgrounds offer an extra something that will keep the kids healthy and happy for hours of play.
MonstroCity – City Museum
Located in St. Louis, Missouri, the MonstroCity playground is part of the St. Louis City Museum, and is, in the words of the museum, “a captivating collision of old and new, architectural castoffs and post-apocalyptic chaos, MonstroCity is at once interactive sculpture and playground. Comprised of wrought iron slinkies, fire trucks, stone turrets, airplane fuselages, slides of all sizes and shapes, and a pair of ball pits modeled after the Thunderdome, MonstroCity inspires a child-like sense of bravado in guests of all ages.” It also boasts a large patio right in the middle of all the action where guests can survey the bedlam and admire the architecture.
Kamakana Playground
Aside for the classic beach resorts and breathtaking views, Hawaii is home to Kamakana Playground, every child’s dream. It boasts a zip line, model train and ship, climbing structures, and incredible views of the surrounding ocean. For the intellectually inclined the park even offers chess tables built into lava rock, in keeping with the park’s aesthetics. Playground rubber mulch also works with the design of any park, with a variety of color options.
Yerba Buena Gardens
A large part of the novelty of Yerba Buena Gardens is its location, at the top of Moscone Convention Center in downtown San Francisco. The playground is made up entirely of spongy rubber mulch flooring that is extremely tactile and susceptible to kids bouncing around. It features a twenty-five foot slide that lands in the pit of rubber mulch, and is designed in a variety of bright colors that appeal to children’s every sense.
New York City Hall of Science Playground
The Hall of Science Playground in Queens, New York City is home to the biggest playground in the country. In keeping the museum’s mission, the playground helps kids explore and learn about light, sound, and mechanics, while having a blast on a never-ending array of playground equipment.
There is no better way for children to learn about their environment than through self-exploration on the playground, and the safest playgrounds have rubber mulch flooring.
Tags: commercial plalyground, playground mulch, rubber mulch for playgrounds
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, Playsafer mulch, Rubber, rubber mulch | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
The advent of summer always comes with long days of blissful boredom and days at the beach. For many parents, however, summer also comes with the headache of figuring out what to do with the kids during the long hours of boredom that plague them. Clubs and day camps are good, but they only make up for a small part of the day. A great way to give the kids a good time is by taking them to the amusement park. While this may seem like a hassle and conspicuous consumption, when done correctly this isn’t the case.
If you know you have a whole summer ahead of you, purchase season tickets to a theme park or amusement park that is close to home. This lowers the cost significantly. How? Let’s take a prominent theme park as an example; Six Flags Great Adventures charges an average of sixty dollars for season passes. If you make it a once a week trip, bringing sandwiches and keeping the kids happy all day, you visit the park an average of eight times, totaling less than ten dollars per child for a full day of keeping them occupied. This is a bargain; just a trip to Michael’s to get some crafts can quickly add up, costing twenty dollars per child. A large park like Six Flags also offers lots of fun and excitement to keep the kids busy all summer long, and carpooling with friends is also a great way to minimize transportation time.
Aside for being a great way to keep the kids busy, some amusement and theme parks feature rubber mulch playground flooring, which is an extra safety measure, and helps educate kids about the importance of going green. In fact, Six Flags just announced that for the next three years they will be encouraging the safety and eco-friendly aspect of rubber mulch by encouraging patrons to scan barcodes at mulch scanning areas in order to receive a coupon for mulch at Lowe’s.
As the world’s largest regional theme park company, the move by Six Flags to promote playground mulch says a lot about its importance in playgrounds, theme parks, landscaping, and for many other uses.
Tags: eco mulch, Playground flooring, playground mulch, rubber mulch
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Environment, Mulch, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, Rubber, rubber mulch | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
…And Kentucky wins! Coach John Callipari has led his team to victory with a future NBA star in Anthony Davis leading the way for Kentucky. When March Madness is over it heralds the arrival of America’s favorite pastime; baseball. Many look forward to Sunday afternoons in the park eating hot dogs and beer while cheering on their teams. There is, however, one part of the game that many miss, thinking it insignificant. This is the pre-game stretches and workout sessions, in training rooms that are equipped with rubber flooring.
Every Major League ballplayer will tell you that these stretches are of utmost importance; no player wants to jump for a high fly ball and overextend their body, resulting in injury. The importance of stretching and loosening up before the game can provide a valuable lesson for children of all ages – that health and keeping one’s body in shape comes before everything else.
Every MLB team has a state of the art workout room where the players get in shape, and of utmost importance to the players is that this workout room should be covered in rubber flooring. As funny as it sounds, rubber plays a big part in baseball. From the rubber soled sneakers and cleats that provide a rock solid grip when stealing bases and chasing errant ground balls, to the flooring in gyms, rubber enhances the players’ ability to achieve greater success. The importance in the type of flooring is evident in the differences players find when playing on grass or artificial turf. Different surfaces have varied characteristics, and rubber is the gold standard.
One way that Rubberecycle rubber mulch flooring is different from its rubber counterparts is that it is recycled, another great point to make in children’s education. Children may recognize the rubber used in baseball as a close cousin of the rubber in playgrounds because both work toward the same goal; better safety while having fun. Next time you’re at the ballpark come early to watch the players stretch, and stress the importance of their actions to your children in the hope that one day they will follow suit.
Tags: baseball, playground mulch, rubber flooring, rubber surface
Posted in Mulch, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, playground surfacing, Playsafer mulch, Rubber, rubber mulch, Rubberecycle, Rubberecycle Manufacturer | Comments Off
Monday, March 19th, 2012
Playgrounds today are becoming more and more sophisticated, with carefully planned designs and themes, extreme safety measures, making rubber mulch flooring a standard, and playground equipment that is meant to stimulate young minds and bodies. Some cities across the U.S. take this phenomenon to a whole new level, with playgrounds that are appealing and unbelievable!
Clemyjontri Park
Located in McLean, Virginia, Clemyjontri Park is built with a rainbow of colors that make a splash. The motto of the park is “Where every child can play,” and this is the case, with equipment that is wheelchair accessible and allows disabled and healthy children to play side by side. Some ways in which this is achieved is with ramps connecting structures, swings with high backs, arm rests, and other safety features, rubber mulch surfacing that allows wheelchairs to roll easily, and other accommodations. The park also boasts a wide variety of activities and equipment that teaches reading, time-telling, and balance skills.
The Geometry Playground
This playground is more of an exhibit than a playground, as it is part of San Francisco’s Exploratorium museum, and it travels between cities. The Geometry Playground is built with geometrical factors that stretch limbs as well as minds. The playground is currently at the Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo, Texas. It has inspired a Geometric structure that is being installed in the playground of a San Francisco school.
Adventure Playground
Located in Berkeley, California, the Adventure Playground is not finished. That’s right, kids who visit are armed with hammers, nails, and ropes, and are instructed in how to build their own structures. There’s nothing like swinging on a zip-line that you made yourself, and the Adventure Playground gives kids the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Powell Barnett Park
This park in Seattle, WA was named for a local community hero, and is as impressive as its name. It features amenities such as a wading pool, Frisbee field, and mini castles, equipped with turrets and all. It even offers elaborate climbing structures and a tricycle maze! The Powell Barnett Park is the park for the kid who has it all and has seen it all.
Franklin Square
Philadelphia is a city of history, and nothing says it like Franklin Square, a conglomeration of old and new. Located in Philadelphia’s Historic District, Franklin Square is one of the five original squares planned for the city by William Penn. It features a nod to its heritage with a beautiful carousel, mini-golf course, and a shaded play area, as well as high tech new playground equipment and rubber mulch flooring. It’s the perfect place for kids to learn about the past while having fun.
Tags: Playground flooring, playground mulch, rubber flooring
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Mulch, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, playground surfacing, Playsafer mulch, Rubber, rubber mulch, Rubberecycle | Comments Off
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
Being a parent is a tough job. From when our children are infants until they are teenagers, there are countless challenges we face daily. However, the pros of raising a family far outweigh the cons. One of the joys of parenthood is watching your child’s face light up when doing something fun together. Whether it’s going bowling together or just out for coffee, joyful moments abound throughout your child’s upbringing, and there are many great ways to spend quality time with your child safely.
A great example of a day out with the kids would be going to the local indoor funplex. Generally these places feature arcades, laser tag, and the central attraction: an indoor playground. Who can forget sliding right into a pool of colorful balls and throwing them playfully at one another. There are many ways our children can have fun, but as every parent will tell you, the most important thing is safety. People very often don’t realize how much rubber bond affects playground safety. In one nationwide survey, playgrounds with rubber bond were shown to have 25% less accidental injuries than their counterparts. Knowing about rubber bond protection before visiting a local indoor playground sounds like a laughable and mundane subject, until you see a child with a broken arm or leg. We must take action now before accidents happen, and urge all indoor playgrounds that rubber bond flooring is a necessity; not a luxury. Don’t wait until it’s your child.
Another place very far removed from indoor playgrounds, yet a source of fun for many teens, is the shooting range. When following all safety precautions a shooting range can provide many educational and life lessons. Rubber flooring is key in providing shooting range safety. When one walks into a shooting range with rubber bond, the first thing they notice is the noise level, or lack thereof. Because the bullets hit the rubber, the noise level is significantly lower. You can actually carry out a normal conversation, contrary to most shooting ranges. More importantly, in some rare cases bullets have ricocheted off the concrete walls and caused severe injuries. Rubber bond prevents this hazard.
Of equal importance is the fact that rubber bond is made up of 100% recycled rubber, allowing you to shoot away with a clear conscience, knowing as you fire away, attempting to hit the bulls’ eye, that you are helping this world become a better place by protecting the environment we live in. Of course, don’t forget to impart this important lesson to your soon-to-be adults.
Having a great day out with your kids can be spent teaching them important lessons in life while helping make this world a better place for them in the years to come.
Tags: recycled rubber, Rubber Bond, rubber flooring, rubber mulch
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, playground surfacing, rubber mulch | Comments Off
Friday, January 20th, 2012
As the green product season heats up and manufacturers unveil their revolutionary eco-friendly goods, Rubberecycle is looking forward to being a significant presence in many prominent trade shows. Their unique rubber mulch is well renowned for its many qualities, and Rubberecycle products always generate buzz at the shows. They are right now in the midst of the trade show season with a packed schedule, in which they try to accommodate consumers all over the U.S. by helping them put the green into their lifestyles.
The first show to kick off the season was arranged by the NRPA, or National Parks and Recreation Association. The 2011 Congress and Exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia brought together experts in the parks and recreations field from across America. They did their best to show how we can have safer, greener parks with a variety of products and techniques. Rubberecycle rubber mulch, as the number one rated playground surface in America, was a topic of much discussion. It is a well known fact that the White House playground is currently floored with rubber mulch, and many cities, schools, and private homeowners are looking to follow suit.
In mid-January, MANTS, otherwise known as the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show, gave green activists the opportunity to see the latest and greatest in green products. Hosted in Baltimore, the show was flooded with greenery and green activists, many of whom were eager to see for themselves how rubber mulch is both green and great for landscaping.
Next week brings with it CENTS, only the third green trade show of its kind. Hosted by the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association, the show is a green lover’s haven. It features all the latest gizmos, gadgets, and information to do with landscaping and going green. As an industry leader, Rubberecycle will no doubt be a key exhibitor.
Also to look forward to in February is the New England Grows show, a leading horticulture trade show and green industry seminar. It is important to take note that no more is rubber mulch a little know, controversial substance in the world of landscaping. It has taken the industry by storm, and is a central exhibit at many trade shows.
With the trade show season heating up, Rubberecycle is anticipating the opportunity to help consumers recognize the many benefits of rubber mulch for themselves.
Tags: green rubber mulch, landscape rubber mulch, Rubberecycle, rubberecycle rubber mulch
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Environment, Gardening, landscape, Mulch, Parks, playground surfacing, Rubber, rubber mulch, Rubberecycle | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Every year after Christmas, the streets are lined with orphaned Christmas trees awaiting their fate as the garbage trucks slowly make their rounds. In the past few years, New York City has been urging people to recycle their trees with Mulchfests. What this entails is that for two days after Christmas the city sets up centers in parks around New York and the five boroughs where people can bring their trees to be shredded into wood chips for free. Tree owners have the option of taking the wood chips home with them in a biodegradable bag provided by the city, or leaving them for the city’s use.
This year the Mulchfest will take place on January 7 and 8 in 70 sites around the city. 35 of the sites will be chipping sites, where the wood is shredded on the spot, and the other 35 will be drop-off sites, from where the city will collect the trees to be recycled. Last year, close to 17,000 Christmas trees were recycled, and New York officials hope to beat that number this year.
The Mulchfest is just one of the ways that the U.S. federal and state governments are trying to bring awareness to the importance of recycling and reusing. While wood chips have many practical uses, in some ways rubber mulch trumps wood. Rubber chips are also recycled, made from old tires. They are more durable than wood, lasting many years, and are great for use in playgrounds, horse arenas, and gardens.
Those who take part in the Mulchfest are trying to do their part to help clean up our planet. In the same vein, it is worthwhile to look into the many uses of rubber mulch, and continue the chain of recycling.
Tags: Mulchfest, recycled tires, rubber mulch
Posted in Environment, landscape, Mulch, Parks, playground flooring, Rubber, rubber mulch, Rubberecycle, tire mulch | Comments Off
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Rubber mulch is making itself known as the safest option for playground flooring. However, many public parks are slow to change the flooring that is already there. In Penny Park in Tulsa, Oakland, this may have cost a little girl her life. Hannah Todd was a vivacious nine-year-old who loved to play in the city park, which had sand flooring. The children had spent a while digging a huge hole in the sand, and police suspect that on November 12 Hannah tried to tunnel inside when the hole caved in, and she was trapped.
Outraged parents are requesting rubber mulch flooring from the city, the ultimate in playground safety, but the parks department is reluctant to move quickly because of the cost. Rubber mulch is more expensive than other options, but it is more economical in the long run because the rubber does not decay or blow away; it needs virtually no maintenance. Aside for the fact that it is safer than sand, rubber mulch provides a bouncy surface that prevents injuries with extra shock absorbency.
Rubber flooring comes in various forms, with rubber bond, a unified surface that is poured, rubber mulch chips, rubber wearmats for areas of high impact, and rubber curbs, to enclose landscaped areas. Each city must evaluate their parks and playgrounds and decide what will work best for them, but it is quickly becoming clear that rubber flooring for playground equipment is a necessity.
In a faltering economy, budgets are running dry, and many cities’ Parks departments are asking themselves if an investment in rubber flooring is necessary. As injuries run high, the answer is quickly becoming a resounding yes. Rubber mulch can save lives, as well as countless injuries from falls as children do what they do best – play.
Tags: playground rubber mulch, playground safety, rubber mulch flooring
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Mulch, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, playground surfacing, Playsafer mulch, Rubber, rubber mulch, tire mulch | Comments Off
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Autumn is blowing in, and as the kids walk to and from the bus stop, it’s important that they are dressed warmly to battle the cold weather that is on its way. Your children, teenagers especially, may have very defined ideas about how they want to dress, but when it comes to protection from the cold, you have to put your foot down. A big part of warm dressing depends on where your child will be.
Layering
Layering is a great way to keep kids warm even in the coldest conditions. For example, a thermal undershirt topped by a turtleneck, sweater, and coat will keep the cold from reaching their bones. It’s also great if they’re going in and out of the cold; when the kids get hot they can simply take off the top layer or two.
Coats
A down coat is one of the warmest coats you can find. Many cheaper versions are imitation down, and are made of synthetic fabrics. This is one area where you shouldn’t scrimp. When spending money on a coat, a dark color is the more practical choice. This decision should be made based on the child’s surroundings. In a school with rubber mulch flooring in the playground, the Playsafer mulch does not get coats dirty, so you may be safer with a more adventurous color. Playgrounds with dirt or wood chips, however, will get the coat dirty.
Accessories
Make sure that your kids have hats, scarves, and gloves in the cold weather. Body heat is mostly retained in the head, so a hat is vital. As with a coat, kids will throw down their clothes anywhere. Be prepared that playgrounds that don’t have rubber surfaces will get the clothing dirty.
You may have to fight with your kids to dress warmly, but you can take pride in knowing that they are toasty and warm as they go about their day.
Tags: playground safety, rubber mulch flooring
Posted in commercial playgrounds, Mulch, Parks, playground flooring, Playground safety, playground surface, playground surfacing, Playsafer mulch, Rubber, rubber mulch, Schools | Comments Off
