Safety technology has advanced so much in the last 50 years such as side impact airbags on cars, which has helped reduce deaths on roads. Another big technological advancement that is starting to gain national attention is rubber mulch. Rubber mulch consists of small rubber granules that are designed to provide extra safety for kids on playgrounds.
With gas prices once again causing major damage on Americans wallets, it’s more important than ever to go green. Rubber mulch is made purely of recycled tires and rubber material, which benefits the environment greatly. Reusing rubber helps decrease the amount of trees cut down in the rainforests of the world each year. With Earth Day and Arbor Day becoming more and more important, it’s necessary to recycle rubber. Another positive impact is the fact that rubber mulch needs only minimum maintenance. This frees up costs and time in the long run.
The most important reason to utilize rubber mulch for playgrounds is because of safety. Recycled rubber has the amazing ability to comfort a fall from up to twelve feet compared to only one foot for asphalt. This means that children in America can play hard and safe at the same time. Specifically, the White House has a playground with rubber mulch because they know that safety and being environmentally conscious is vital for America’s future. Overall, rubber mulch is the leading safety surface for playgrounds.
Each year more than 500,000 children are taken to the emergency room as a result of an accident or fall on the playground. Nearly 70 percent of these injuries are the result of falls, rather than equipment-related. Rubberecycle mulch company, the manufacturer of Playsafer Rubber Mulch, provides tips to parents to keep kids happy and safe while playing in playgrounds during the spring and summer months.
Rubberecycle recognizes findings from a study that again confirms the safety of using recycled rubber for athletic fields and playgrounds. The study looked at children and adults and found no elevated health risks. The announcement from the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CDPH) validates findings from separate studies conducted by five other agencies and that of playground rubber mulch.
The two-year study by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) looked at fields containing crumb rubber infill, which is recycled rubber. The study was a joint effort between four state agencies – the University of Connecticut Health Center, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). In addition nine scientists from the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) reviewed the study.
Recycled rubber is also a safe choice for playgrounds and the same recycled rubber surface used by Little League teams. It has been recommended by those who treat children for playground falls – one of the most common injuries (see this video about playground safety).
“Recycled rubber has been again studied and found to be safe for our children. Rubberecycle notes that this is the surface the Obamas chose to use on the White House playground. Rubberecycle playground mulch is not only sound for environmental reasons but it protects kids from dangerous falls,” said Keith Sacks, Vice President of RubbeRecycle.
Other agencies to report similar findings of the Connecticut study include: the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other governmental agencies, including the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health, the New York City Department of Health, and the California EPA.
Rubberecycle gained national fame in 2009, when the company installed Playsafer rubber mulch on the White House’s first playground. After Barbara Tulipane and Rich Dolesh of The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) contacted the White House to emphasize playground safety, staff representatives of the Obama administration contacted Rubberecycle. The company installed the playgrounds surfacing, complete with rubber curbs and wear mats.
“Playsafer Rubber Mulch absorbs more shock impact than any other playground surface material. This is particularly important because more than 550,000 kids end up in the emergency room every year with serious playground injuries. Playsafer Rubber Mulch prevents broken bones and other problems that you get with other safety surfaces,” said Sacks.
The playground surface is the safest product on the market today. This playground surface was made from 1,400 used tires which make it environmentally friendly. It’s a popular safety surface for schools, municipalities, and daycare centers.
Dr. Sommerer states,
As the Safety Director and a doctor, he was concerned. “I see plenty of bone injuries in my practice and felt that we needed a better playground surfacing solution for our kids. We decided that wood fiber was no longer a safe or environmentally sound choice for our children. We chose to use “Playsafer” rubber mulch manufactured by Rubberecycle. I immediately noticed a difference. The surface is unbelievably soft and dry! I feel comfortable knowing that our children are much safer while playing on the tot lot. I see plenty of bone injuries in my practice. We needed a better solution. Wood fiber was no longer a safe or environmentally sound choice for our children.
In over 40 years of EPA oversight and OSHA regulated manufacturing, there has never been an instance of illness attributed recycled rubber on playgrounds or its use for synthetic turf. Instead, recycled rubber is a sound environmental solution. Rubberecycle processes between 10,000 and 12,000 tires a day and is designed to handle 2 million scrap tires annually, so it is part of the solution.
The Connecticut study can be viewed at ct.gov/dep/artificialturf
About Rubberecycle:
Rubberecycle introduced top quality rubber surfacing products to the commercial, residential and military markets in 1998. Their playground mulch conforms to all CPSC, ASTM, and IPEMA (The International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association) safety guidelines and is ADA approved. The pioneer in the tire recycling industry, Rubberecycle utilizes the most advanced technology and equipment to recycle tires on site. The resulting playground surfacing is low maintenance, safe for children and comes with a lifetime warranty and is a fantastic “Green Solution” for the safety of our children.
Environmental activists speak a lot about environmental pollution and other harmful activities being carried out. The drastic changes in the global climate are a result of the human actions. Every government is trying its best to encourage the citizens to use environment friendly products and recycle, reuse and reduce.
Rubber mulch is the environmentally friendly way to playground safety surface. Everyone should consider rubber mulch as a playground safety surface for commercial and residential playgrounds.
Recycling of rubber materials like tires into rubber mulch will add great values and benefits to the environment. Use of tire mulch for playground surfaces reduces kids from getting injured, playgrounds that have rubber mulch installed, falls will be protected, as rubber mulch absorbs more shock, than any other playground surface will also protect the kids from other playground injuries like splinters and scraped knees.
Rubber mulch is environmentally friendly, as it is made from scrap tires.
The White House has discovered the benefits of rubber mulch for playground safety, as their first playground has rubber mulch installed. They also like the fact that rubber mulch is a ‘green’ product.
And this is what the playground at the White House looks like, with the rubber mulch playground safety surface.
Rubber Mulch Playground at the White House
Ideally this is what all commercial and residential playgrounds should look like – colorful, fun and ultimately a lot safer with Rubberecycle mulch. To read more regarding the first White House playground visit CTN Green at http://bit.ly/rFAGv
I f you would like to find out more info regarding recycled rubber mulch you can contact Rubberecycle.com at
888-436-6846
732-363-0600
Fax: 732-370-4247
info at rubberecycle.com
Health Magazine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognized schools in America who were healthy. You can find the full article in the October issue. They picked five schools to feature and there’s a lot to learn from what they have done.
In fact, it would be great if they measured the health of kids at the start of the program and at the end of the year. Here are the winning schools with a short list of why they were picked.
Sublette Elementary School, Kansas
Low-fat and fat-free milk replaced whole milk.
White whole-wheat flour, milled in Kansas, was used in bread made fresh at the school. The pasta is whole wheat, too.
During a regular snack break, students can pick up fresh produce and bring it back to their classrooms.
Recess is before lunch, so kids aren’t hurrying through lunch to get outside.
Gooding Elementary School, Idaho
Kids earn activity-based field trips—snow-shoeing, roller-skating, skiing—by walking laps.
The lunch staff makes lots of food from scratch, and fried foods, candy, and soda aren’t allowed. Instead they get low-fat and fat-free dairy choices, fresh veggies, and Idaho-grown potatoes.
The student nutrition club makes weekly announcements discussing new dishes being served in the cafeteria or to give a fun nutrition fact.
Wilsonville Elementary School, Alabama
Local farmers deliver fresh vegetables, such as green beans, collard greens and sweet potatoes.
Birthday parties or celebrations are healthy, too — fresh fruit instead of cake, and soda is prohibited.
Staff members host nutrition lessons with parents
They send out a monthly newsletter that offers suggestions for family physical activities, healthy snacks, and nutrition advice.
Springwoods Elementary School, Virginia
Students at Springwoods live by the “95210” principle — nine hours of sleep, five servings of fruits and vegetables, no more than two hours of screen time, at least one hour of exercise, and zero sugary drinks per day.
With a health tool families can make a virtual food tray online, choosing healthy items from the daily menu to build nutritious meals.
Jackson Annex Elementary School, N.Y.
PE instructors gave students ideas for exercising even when it’s cold outside — like jumping jacks.
Kids are encouraged to eat breakfast. Too many kids skip breakfast and eat a high-sugar, low-nutrition snack instead.
The school offers free or low-cost breakfast at school, and after letting parents know about it, participation doubled.
These are great ideas – maybe you could get involved by getting similar ideas approved where your kids go to school.
Rubberecycle applauds these efforts. As part of our interest in a healthier America for kids we have some suggestions too. We suggest that schools have recess plans to encourage kids to get real exercise while on recess — using the school playground. It could be obstacle courses or challenges with rewards. When I was a kid we got rewarded for walking or jogging laps on the track. And of course make sure your kids are safe with rubber mulch under the playground equipment (to cushion falls).
It’s not very often you see a merry-go-round on a playground anymore. That fact has many children and adults pining for one. In Texas at a playground, they are especially missed. They playground had a pair of enormous merry-go-rounds.
These were pretty amazing merry-go-rounds too. Just one could hold 30 children. They were likely build during the Great Depression and have become part of the history of the town.
Last year the school expanded, taking over part of the playground. Then came new, handicap-accessible playground equipment. But they’re not giving up. There is a request for bids on the antique merry-go-round and there are already offers coming in.
There were some concerns about playground safety — more than one child has fallen off the toy. Which is part of the experience. We say, it’s not if they fall it’s when they do. In most cases, it’s not so much the fall, but what they land on that matters!
Do you have nostalgic feelings for a particular toy on a playground that you grew up playing on?
The Tustin Youth and Family Center Playground in California is being replaced. The city had budgeted $88,000 for the equipment and installation. The playground will be demolished and the new playground will have rubber playground surfacing instead of sand. This will go a long way to prevent injuries and make an attractive playground that is easy to maintain for years to come.
And in Texas students pulled together to build a new playground after vandals destroyed their playground by setting it on fire. Foster Elementary School students sold lemonade, held bake sales and car washes to raise funds for the new playground. A local business kicked in to help too.
The playground was made for students of all abilities including children in wheelchairs. The community pitched in to help build the playground.
Congratulations to these organizations for their work and their investment in their community!
Are you looking for a surfacing option for your playground or backyard? There are several materials which used to cover the playgrounds for increasing their safety and enhancing their beauty. The most common materials used worldwide are pour in place rubber, rubber mulch, rubber chips and wood strips. Some families prefer artificial glass combined with rubber tiles.
Nowadays there is lot of talk about rubber mulch. There are lots of reasons for the increasing popularity of rubber mulch. Rubber mulch gives better safety. The mulch does not harms the environment around you. Rubber mulch can help a lot in decreasing the injuries in the playground area.
Where to buy high quality and durable rubber mulch? Rubber mulch can be bought from many places. You can visit a local mulch store or you can buy through internet. Internet shopping is getting more and more popular. There are several benefits of online shopping. Internet allows you to compare the prices of different products available. In this way one can make best possible choice. But do not forget to read the testimonials before buying any type of mulch. There are many websites which provide honest reviews about several new products in the market.
When you purchase playgrounds or any type of playground equipment, ensure the pieces meet the safety standards and will ensure your children are completely safe at all times.
Also, reputable companies or manufacturers will be able to provide you with satisfactory answers to any questions you may have regarding the safety of their products.
You can follow these simple safety tips, when you are ready to purchase playground equipment:
1. Install correctly all equipment. Regardless of how safe the playground equipment manufacturer claims it to be. If you are installing the equipment yourself, ensure that the equipment is firmly secured to the ground.
2. Every year, hundreds of children are injured on the playground due to falls. Although the playground equipment may be completely safe and correctly installed, children are still capable of falling, tripping, or tumbling onto the ground. Instead of allowing your tots to fall on a hard concrete surface or even the slightly softer grass, install a soft surface. These shock absorbing surfaces include shredded rubber, rubber bond, special safety playsafer rubber mats or mulch from Rubberecycle can make the difference in a trip to the emergency room and a minor fall.
3. Be sure to choose equipment that is appropriate and recommended by the EPA, choose age appropriate equipment and sizes of your children. If you have several different children in a wide range of ages, consider dedicating different parts of the playground to each child. Also, consider choosing pieces that can be upgraded as the child ages, such as swings or rings. Ensuring that the playground surfaces are appropriate like rubber mulch, playsafer rubber bond or Rubberecycle wear mats and rubber curbs that will prevent accidents from occurring.
4. Cover hardware and all playground equipment that has sharp, pointy, or hard aspects that are essential in the assembly of the play area. Choose playground supplies with covers that will ensure little ones are not cut or injured on this hardware. This is especially essential when it comes to the s-hooks and chains that attach swings, rings, bars, and other suspended elements.
5. Constant supervision. The best way to ensure safety on any playground equipment is to properly supervise any children while playing. Just as you would watch your kids playing in the park playgrounds, the same safety precautions should be taken in your own backyard playground.
6. Regardless if you have a metal set or a wooden set, most playground swing sets comes with some type of paint or protective coating. Check the makeup of the paint or sealant to ensure the safety. Furthermore, some types of pressure treated wood contains creosote or other chemicals.
7. Most playground swing sets has a ladder of some sort. Ensure the child cannot become trapped between the ladder and the guardrails or between the rungs. This is critical to prevent children from becoming stuck or seriously injured. Be sure that spaces between guard rails or between runs should be less than 3.5 inches or greater than nine inches.
As seen in the news: Usually when you think playgrounds it referrers to kids playing in backyard playgrounds, it happens to be that in England (U.K.) they think and do thinks different, like driving on the other side of the road or the hot and cold water are at opposite side what we have set up in U.S.A. also they created playgrounds for adults and senior citizens to stay active, as mentioned in the DailyNews article.
Talk about the swingin’ sixties!
London is opening its first outdoor playground for senior citizens, according to the Associated Press.
“Every park has a children’s playground, very few have playgrounds for adults, and none have playgrounds for the elderly,” says MadelineElsdon, whose local residents’ association received funding for the new elderly play area planned for London’s popular Hyde Park.
“We wanted something that would be of long-term benefit to people, so we came up with this idea for an older person’s playground,” she explains.
Exercise enclaves aimed at aging baby boomers are already popular in Europe in Asia. In fact, an over-60 playground opened in England two years ago. The Dam Head Park in Manchester features low-impact exercise equipment where seniors can swing their legs and work their hips without injury.
The upcoming Hyde Park playground being built this spring will include six pieces of workout equipment from Denmark, such as a stationary bike, a cross-trainer and a sit-up bench.
The Westminster City Council gave 40,000 pounds ($60,000) to fund the project, which will be called “Hyde Park Senior Playground” – although anyone of any age is welcome to come by and check the place out.
The innovative idea could usher in a new golden age of fitness.
The playground could be a great way to encourage older people to exercise and socialize,” says Michelle Mitchell, charity director of the British group Age Concern, which works to aid the elderly.
A playground for elderly people is great to keep them young in shape fiscally and socialize for the mental health. But after all said and done, older people might have a higher risk of impact if they fall in playgrounds, I would highly recommend some kind of safety surfacing like Rubberecycle rubber mulch tire chips conform to all CPSC safety guidelines and has earned ADA approval, making playgrounds safe for children and adults.
Or there is another playground surfacing solution called Playsafer Rubber Bond surfacing. It is created by spreading a thick layer of loose rubber mulch and then applying an additional layer of rubber combined with a high quality polyurethane bond. The surface thus has all the shock absorbency of Playsafer Rubber Mulch, plus an additional layer of protection. Rubber Bond’s unitary surface provides a neat look with minimal maintenance while offering unrivaled safety performance.
As caring parents it is your responsibility to look after the safety of your kids. You must be aware of the fact that kids suffer maximum injuries on the playgrounds because of lack of safety measures. Therefore it is very important to provide the kids safe play areas.
If you cover the kids’ play area with rubber mulch, it can provide safe and secure playground or play area for your kids. Rubber mulch is made from used rubber that has been reprocessed. One can use the rubber mulch for the children’s play area or for personal use in backyard or private garden. You can even landscape your garden and backyard using rubber mulch and make your kids’ play area more colorful.
Here are some advantages of rubber mulch:
If the kids fall down on the rubber mulch while playing they will bounce off it and will not injure themselves severely.
Its durability makes it long lasting.
It cannot blow away in the storm.
It cannot melt or rot, therefore will not smell.
It does not catch dust
It does not be a magnet for insects.
It comes in different colors.
Children’s safety is always a matter of concern for each and every parent. Rubber mulch used to cover the play area will certainly lessen your worries about your kids’ safety on playgrounds. Rubber mulch is very commonly and widely used in the children’s play area for its safety providing character.
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