Eco-Friendly Playground Equipment

In these days of green thinking, are you thinking about your playgrounds being eco-friendly? If not, here is a guide to buying or updating to a new eco-friendly playground system.

Older playgrounds consist mainly of steel. What happens to this steel when the playground is torn down? Thrown in a landfill? Probably. Your children also play on these steel or wooden playgrounds. There are several dangers that your children face with these old and outdated playgrounds. Rust, cuts, splinters, and dangerous chemicals used to preserve the wooden structures. Some studies have even shown that older wooden structures contain a form of arsenic as part of their preservation techniques. The California Department for Health has found that arsenic can dislodge from the wood and transfer to children's hands and skin. Samples taken from children's hands have varied from 24 to 630 micrograms of arsenic. A safe level has been determined at or around 50 micrograms. BigToys, an Eco friendly playground manufacturer, has also removed all Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC, a material that is hazardous in most of it's forms, from their playground equipment.

Now you can take all of those risks away by buying an Eco friendly playground. They are safer, cleaner, more reliable, and a great deal healthier for the environment. Plus, they are 99-100% recycled material! This reduces the amount of waste in a landfill, is safer, and makes your 'green footprint' smaller!

Ever wonder what happens to milk jugs, plastic bottles, bags, and many other items you have in your home? If you recycle them, they are a part of these new play systems! However, don't be fooled. Only companies that specify recycled content actually contain them. Recycled content and regular plastic are two very different materials.

The benefits of owning an Eco-friendly playground include their 99+% post-consumer plastic content. They are all manufactured with only the finest recycled plastic. Manufacturers like BigToys, EarthScape Structures, and A+ Playgrounds all produce 99-100% recycled material playground sets. They also sell 100% recycled material 'wood chips' that are much safer and softer that real wood chips or packed dirt!

These manufacturers can provide you with the playground to fit your needs. Small, medium, large, and even park sized structures are available! They range in sizes from home, medium, and park. They also sell playgrounds to fit certain age groups such as early childhood, fully accessible, and thematic structures. Along with the playgrounds, there are a plethora of accessories such as swing sets, basketball hoops, tether ball, wooden borders, and even safety signs!

Here is a small list of Eco friendly playground suppliers:

Burke Premier Play Environments

A+ Playgrounds

BigToys

Earthscapes Structures

Gotham Playgrounds & Surfacing

Natural Playgrounds

And there are plenty more!Not only are you helping to save the environment, but your children will benefit as well. Take the PlayGreen Initiative, for example:

The PlayGreen Initiative's vision: "Bring childhood development opportunities to communities worldwide, giving children a chance to not only engage in healthy, active play, but also learn the values associated with a healthy environment."

The more children learn about recycling and earth friendly choices, the more they will benefit in the future. After all, it's going to be their world someday, why not teach them to keep it clean?