Choose Eco-friendly Playground Equipment for Your Park or School

Saving the planet and going green is what we aspire to do, and as parents, we want our children to learn to be environmentally friendly as well. What better way to do that than to build an eco-friendly playground for our kids?

Many playground equipment manufacturers such as Playmart, one of Premier Park & Play’s manufacturing partners, build play structures with recycled plastic materials such as milk jugs. A small park bench uses close to 500 milk jugs and a larger play set can use more than 70,000 milk jugs. See how much we can contribute to sustainability by using eco-friendly play structures in our school playgrounds and municipal parks. In addition to benefits to the environment, recycled plastic does not rust, peel or produce splinters, thus providing a safe and beautiful surface for children to play.

Besides play equipment and playground benches, we can also use recycled rubber mulch, which is produced by recycling tires, for playground surfacing. Rubber mulch playground surfaces are not only eco-friendly, they provide the most shock absorption keeping children safe from fall injuries. A more affordable but still eco-friendly alternative is wood fiber mulch, which is free of paint, chemicals and additives.

Lastly, consider a nature-themed playground to teach your child to love nature and motivate them to become environmentally-friendly citizens, while having great fun with climbers, enclosures, panels, roofs, rocks and stumps in the form of natural elements like mushrooms and tree trunks. Above is a nature-theme playground in Riverfront Park, Erving, MA.

Premier Park & Play provides eco-friendly playground equipment and constructs eco-friendly playgrounds for schools, parks, child care centers and other organizations in Massachusetts, Connecticut and other parts of New England. For more information, please call 617-244-3317 or visit our website at premierparkplay.com.

Why Recycled Rubber is a Good Choice for Playground Surfacing

When you design and build a playground, choosing the right surfacing is an important consideration. Are you looking for a playground surface that is ecofriendly and protects your children in case of a fall while also making a space that’s attractive to children? Consider recycled rubber.

It is estimated that Americans throw away about 290 million rubber tires per year. Twelve states, such as Connecticut, ban all scrap tires from landfills. Using mulch from recycled rubber keeps discarded tires out of the landfill.  It takes about 80 tires to make one cubic yard of mulch so using it for playground surfaces definitely makes a dent in the stockpile of discarded tires.  Recycled rubber requires less energy to produce than new rubber so it saves energy too.

Rubber has a springy quality that provides cushioning in the event of a fall.  It absorbs shock better than any other loose fill playground surfacing option. Unlike sand, rubber remains loose no matter what the temperature is or what the weather conditions are, a definite plus in New England states like Maine or Massachusetts.  Unlike wood chips, rubber mulch doesn’t harbor fungus or mold so you can install it in damp areas.  Like any loose fill material, shredded rubber may need some maintenance to keep the surface level, but because it does not absorb or retain water (it therefore does not rot) you do not need to top it up as frequently.

A great playground design invites play. Recycled rubber playground surfacing comes in different colors so you can coordinate the surface color with the overall color theme of your playground design for an attractive and inviting look. For more information, please contact Doug Knotts at premierparkplay@verizon.net or call 617-244-3317.

Safe Playground Surfaces – Wood Fiber, Rubber Mulch and Pour-in-Place Rubber

A study on playground injuries showed that over 70% of them are due to falls under play structures. To ensure that our parks and school playgrounds are safe for children to enjoy, installing a safe playground surface is essential. While it is common for kids to play in sand or grass and soil, these surfaces are generally unsafe when play equipment is installed on them. So what types of playground surface materials are safe and how to they compare?

Among the safe, ADA-compliant playground surfacing materials, the most popular options are wood fiber, rubber mulch and pour-in-place rubber.

Wood Fiber Mulch Playground

Wood fiber mulch is affordable and eco-friendly. It is made from engineered wood and is free of paint and chemicals. It does require raking and top ups, thus the maintenance cost can be higher than rubber mulch. Wood fiber has a natural look that blends in well with most outdoor park playground settings.

Recycled Rubber Mulch Playground Surfacing

Rubber mulch is made from recycled tires. It does not absorb water and decompose, and requires less top ups than wood fiber. It also offers better fall protection than wood fiber.

Pour-in-place Rubber Playground Surfacing

This is the most accessible playground surface and allowing wheelchairs to most easily roll over it. It must be installed over concrete, asphalt or a compacted aggregate stone and is comprised of two layers, a cushioning layer and a decorative top layer. The top layer can be creatively designed in various colors and patterns to enhance the look of the playground. Pour-in-place rubber playground surfacing is durable and needs little maintenance other than checking for cracks on a regular basis, but it is more expensive compared to wood fiber and rubber mulch.

Premier Park and Play has designed and installed many excellent playgrounds in New England that meets safety and accessibility standards. We offer playground surfacing options including wood fiber mulch, rubber mulch, poured-in-place rubber and others. To find out which playground surfacing option is right for you, please contact Doug Knotts at premierparkplay@verizon.net or call 617-244-3317.