Posts Tagged ‘eco mulch’

Tire Blowouts and Recycling Tires

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

It’s one of the leading causes of serious injuries and fatalities in car accidents today. Tire blowouts are a common site when driving down the highway, skid marks and tire shavings littering the shoulder. A tire blowout is every driver’s nightmare, meaning the expense of a tow truck and fixing damages that occurred because of the blowout, besides for new tires and the possibility of serious injury. Recycling tires regularly and replacing them with new ones can help drivers reduce the risk of blowouts.

Mechanics and tire manufacturers warn that when tire treads start to wear down it’s time to replace them. Drivers should recycle tires to be used for rubber mulch, thereby helping themselves, their cars, and the environment. Many major tire retailers have made it easy to turn recycled tires into playground mulch with different options to help drivers dispose of old tires.

Nine percent of passenger cars are being driven on at least one “bald” tire. For purposes of the survey that relayed this information, a tire was considered bald if it had 1/16th of an inch or less of tread depth.

Drivers are strongly recommended to install the best tires on rear wheels. In practice, if only the front tires are replaced, which often occurs because they tend to be worn out more quickly than the rear ones (especially for front wheel drive vehicles), it is necessary to move the rear tires to the front and fit the new ones on the rear wheels. Progressive technological developments are in progress that should reduce the number of tire blow-outs. However, considering the time necessary to renew the number of cars on the roads, this very simple and inexpensive recommendation should apply to all cars and especially to vans.

Drivers who recycle tires do more than save the environment, they save themselves from potential injury and a whole load of headaches. There is a reason that rubber mulch is made from recycled tires; it’s a smart decision for everyone.

Mulch in Theme Parks

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.