Yesterday I took my niece, Tabitha, to the playground at our local park. I love to have Tabitha visit, but she sometimes gets a little bit excited and has occasionally broken things in my house, so I choose to take her to the playground instead for our visits.
As I watched her play on the slide, climbing up the 10 or so stairs to slide down again some 40 or 50 times and then move on to the swings for a bit and then to the merry-go-round, I noticed that the mulch they had on the ground was made of rubber. I had never seen this before and found it very interesting and different.
After our playground romp, we went to the local ice cream shop for a sundae. She decided that she wanted a banana split instead of a sundae. She ordered a hot fudge sundae and I had my peanut butter sundae (my personal favorite). Of course, being only 7 years old, Tabitha got fudge all over her clothes and face. Her mother will have an absolute fit!!! But, that is what being a kid is all about, isn’t it? You should be able to get messy when you eat ice cream.
After Tabitha’s visit, dropped her off at her house (after a little clean up in the bathroom at the ice cream shop) and went home and did a little research. I found out that there is a company called Rubberecycle Playsafer that recycles old used tires and sells this rubber mulch for use on playgrounds and in horse arenas. It makes a softer place to land if a horse or child falls, it is good for the environment and gives a person or a horse more sure footing. I think it is a wonderful idea for recycling of tires and lasts much longer than traditional mulch.