First Ever White House Playground Uses Recycled Playsafer Rubber Mulch and Rubber Curbs from Rubberecycle, As seen on 60 Minutes
April 1, 2009 by admin
New playground surface used at the White House playground, chosen for its safety and environmental factors. Rubberecycle.com honored to be part of keeping the first family safe.
When the white house recently had a playground installed, they chose recycled Playsafer Rubber Mulch and Rubber Curbs from Rubberecycle.com of Lakewood New Jersey in lieu of the many other options.
“Like many first families, the Obama’s have added their personal touch to the White House. From the vegetable garden to the new playground, they have been very conscientious and involved in these decisions. They chose Rubberecycle’s Rubber Mulch and Rubber Curbs for their new playground both for safety and for its ‘Green’ attributes,” said Keith Sacks, Rubberecycle’s Vice President.
He adds, We were told Sasha and Malia love their new playground, and we’re honored to be a part of keeping them and millions of other children safe, while promoting a renewable resource.
See Video:
Barbara Tulipane, and Rich Dolesh of The National Recreation and Park Association, in conjunction with Tom Norquist of Game Time contacted the White House to emphasize playground safety who then contacted Rubberecycle.
“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.
To see pictures of the White House playground with the Playsafer Rubber Mulch, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubbermulch.
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.
TheCoveMovie 
The swing set at the White House is beautiful and it appears to be some form of plastic with a wood grain appearance to it. The rubber buffings that the play equipement is sitting on is TOTALLY NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE as the simple fact that ground up tires are TOXIC AND RELEASE CARCINAGINS INTO THE AIR which is not safe for our children and environment. What is the lead content in the coloring that they use for the rubber buffings and play equipment? Our government wants to GO GREEN and save the planet and the health of our children but then Obama allows to have ground up tires installed as the preferred safety surface product. It totally explains how one sided things have gone in America as our elected officials can lie and cheat to gain whatever serves them for their own interest, that may be called ENTITLEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(ed:removed political rant - CTN is not a political pulpit )
/// I know this will fall on deaf ears again… …Obama ///
We appreciate that if you make a qualitative assertion, that you cite your references.
the above poster should have done that - possibly cited:
http://www.ehhi.org/reports/turf/health_effects.shtml
In this way the Rubberecycle inc poepl have a way to respond in kind with researched informative info. Phenol outgassing issues are common issues enough that this material is not used indoors, so one would hope that the green coating on the tire chunks is able to arrest such an issue….
Thanks l for your observations Gro - good catch!
I think Gro’s article was more in line with his anger toward government and the current administration than recycled rubber.
By recycling tires there is a great saving to landfills and a decrease in the trees that are used to fill the same purpose.
In reading through the article mentioned it refers to another article written by Nor Carolinas dept of Ag. In it they mention the levels of zinc in rubber but also mention that the zinc found in fertilizer and plant food when combined with rubber mulch may cause high levels of zinc leaching into plants and ground water.
It appears that the recycled tires are not in themselves to blame. There are some companies that use non toxic organic color in their dying process.
lets check rubber recycle for their data.
Obama, as always, is my idol. Thanks god, he was chosen by Americans. We are for rubber recycle.
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I always loved Rubber Mulch. I put it in my yard and then I saw this article that the President also installed it, and from the same company as I did. I told my children and they were so excited! The only thing I was a little nervous because I did read afew place that it wasn’t so safe. But then I realized how many people use it and how much good there is I bought it. Now I just saw this article for those who are like me and alittle concerned http://www.epa.gov/nerl/features/tire_crumbs.html. It makes u feel much better while watching your children have a great time!
I found that the EPA highly recommends tire rubber mulch for playgrounds. at http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/tools/cpg/products/playgrnd.htm also in playground safety surfacing playground manual - it is highly recommended.
Please check out page 3,4 and page 9 at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/325.pdf
playground safety manual and playground surfacing.