School Exterior: Going Green
By: John McConkey
Responsible recycling involves more than picking up reclaimable trash and shipping it out of town. It also means “closing the recycling loop” by using products made of recycled materials.
For communities, such behavior isn’t just politically correct—it ultimately pays off in reduced disposal costs for solid waste.
On the playground, using equipment made from recycled materials educates children and their parents on the benefits of recycling.
Let the buyer be aware.
The hardest part of buying recycled products is learning how to tell the good from the bad.
You can’t assume that every manufacturer is using recycled materials responsibly—but by asking the right questions, you can be sure that you’re making a responsible buying decision for your constituents.
Is it really recycled?
“Recycled” products typically contain one or more of the following materials.
Post-consumer waste consists of the cans, bottles, and other materials that a community’s residents throw away. Such material is considered desirable because it otherwise would end up in a landfill.
Recovered material is equally desirable. This consists of reusable material that a municipality or sanitation contractor has separated from appliances and other solid waste.
Reclaimed factory scrap, such as aluminum tubing and steel trimmings, can be used to supplement consumer waste and recovered material. Using manufacturing scrap in recycled products is important because it diverts such material from the solid-waste stream.
Don’t skimp on metal.
Recycling of steel and aluminum has become commonplace. Every year, more than 60 million tons of steel is recycled in the United States, and 66 percent of all U.S. steel consists of recycled material. Aluminum products have an average recycled content of 25 percent, but they may contain an even higher percentage.
Be picky about plastics.
Today, plastic is widely used in play systems—not just for attachments like slides and tunnels, but also for basic structural components.
Unfortunately, there are few industry standards for “recycled plastic,” a generic term that can mean just about anything.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) are the most commonly used plastics in outdoor play equipment.
Let’s take a look at the various grades that are available.
Purified fractional-melt HDPE is typically made from milk and detergent bottles. It consists of a single high-density polyethylene resin that has been ground into flakes and washed to remove food residue, waste, and adhesives. Only then is the plastic used for molding or extruding.
Multiple-melt flow HDPE/LDPE is a rung down on the durability ladder. It contains two grades of plastic, including the nonstructural plastic used in bags and films. If the HDPE and LDPE are not purified, cavities of up to 10mm in diameter may be formed during processing. Oils from foods or adhesives can cause deterioration and eventual fracturing of the plastic.
Composites typically include 50 percent LDPE and 50 percent sawdust or other secondary fiber. Because the wood fiber is organic and absorbs moisture, composites are vulnerable to moisture deterioration, termite damage, and failure at low temperatures.
Commingled plastic is a mixture of different resins in percentages that may vary from batch to batch. Durability is always suspect, since chemical additives are dispersed unevenly through resins with different properties. And, because the resins in the mixture expand and contract at different rates, internal stresses can cause warping as temperatures rise or fall.
Additives
Pigments, UV stabilizers, and other chemicals are used to color plastic, impart structural strength, and improve durability. In quality products, additives can represent half the cost of recycled plastic material—which is another reason why cheap plastics are unlikely to survive the stresses of play, weather, and solar radiation.
Extrusion vs. Molding
The two basic techniques used to form plastic are continuous extrusion (which results in lengths of product that can be cut to size) and closed molding (such as roto molding or injection molding processes, which produce individual products by heating the resin in a mold). Both methods have their place, but extrusion is preferred when making plastic “lumber” such as that used in walls and roofs.
The benefits of continuous extrusion include a more consistent finish, the ability to form a product of any length, and fewer voids for more consistent strength. High-quality foamed extrusion has a rigid skin over a fine, consistent cellular core—a design that maximizes strength while reducing weight.
The bottom line is value vs. price.
In plastics, as in so many other products, you get what you pay for. Saving a few thousand dollars up front can lead to high maintenance and replacement costs in a painfully short time.
Ask your play equipment manufacturer for details.
Manufacturers offering “recycled” play equipment should be able to tell you the types and sources of all the materials used in their products. You may also want to ask about the company’s own recycling practices.
John McConkey is product manager at Landscape Structures. For more information about environmentally preferable playgrounds, visit Landscape Structures at www.playlsi.com.
Product Roundup
American Swing Products
American Swing Products has announced that it is now offering new complete sets that are great for small areas. They provide hours of fun with a range of activities. Sets are made of durable plastic that is very strong and safe. They come in bright, non-fading colors that last and last. American Swing Products is offering several different configurations to fit any size or need. You can view all of their products online.
www.americanswing.com
BigToys
BigToys builds innovative, earth-friendly commercial play structures that provide children and communities with safe, positive, developmentally appropriate, and fun play experiences. BigToys is leading a green transformation of the commercial playground industry by delivering accessible, earth-friendly, PVC and phthalate-free structures crafted from recycled steel and plastic or sustainably harvested wood. BigToys defines green with a cradle-to-cradle promise: they divert source material from landfills, recycle nearly all of their manufacturing waste, and take back structures when they finally reach the end of their long life.
www.bigtoys.com
VeggieTales from WOW Playgrounds
Enjoy creative and imaginative play with all of your favorite VeggieTales characters on the playground with the new VeggieTales Themed Fun Center 101 modular play structure from WOW Playgrounds. There are more than 20 events to provide endless fun and play challenge. These sets are priced affordably, and there are options for structures to meet most budgets and space availability. Slide, climb, hide, and dream in the high-impact rotocast molded components or create your own layout and custom design incorporating Christianity out on the playground.
www.wowplaygrounds.com
Landscape Structures
Landscape Structures has introduced The Peak Natural Climber and The Stepper Natural Climbing Stone, the newest additions to the Natural Elements Climbers series. Designed specially for beginning climbers, each of these versatile, natural elements can be integrated with a new or existing PlayBooster or PlayShaper playstructure, featured as an independent play event, or grouped together in clusters to create a whole pathway for kids to navigate. Kids will be thrilled with these natural-looking climbers that provide hours of challenge and fun.
www.playlsi.com
Intensity from BCI Burke
Ready to turn it up a notch for your kids? Burke’s all-new Intensity fitness play complex is designed to challenge and exercise young bodies while providing so much fun kids won’t want to go home. Intensity was designed to meet the requirements for children ages 5 to 12. It appeals to children with a focus on basic physical skills, coordination, strength, balance, and endurance. Intensity offers a variety of fitness play events that not only keep kids moving and excited but also are very modern, and streamlined.
www.getintensity.com
Triton from GameTime
The Triton is part of the next revolution in GameTime’s popular fitness-based product line, Xscape 2.0. Visually and structurally unlike anything else on the playground, the Triton is a destination to explore. Its three suspended triangular shapes are perfect for kids to climb through, around, or just sit on and socialize. The best part of the Triton is there are no instructions for play. Children will discover new ways to play on equipment they have never interacted with. So, get your kids excited with GameTime’s newest sensation, the Triton.
www.gametime.com
Kids Hoops from Future Pro
Unique fun for the young! Future Pro offers the Kids Hoops game to help youngsters develop hand-to-eye coordination, encourage interactive play, and practice counting skills. Give children instruction or let the kids create their own games with the four numbered exit holes. Basket is sturdy, all-weather, one-piece molded polyethylene on a galvanized mounting pole. Future Pro also offers an indoor version on a portable base with interchangeable game accessories.
www.futureproinc.com
Prime Play’s PlayActive
Prime Play PlayActive obstacle play systems are designed for the health industry to promote an active lifestyle for children. Each system allows adults to participate with children to establish a healthy and active lifestyle in early childhood. Participants are entertained for hours as they make their way though hundreds of interactive play features, including horizontal rollers, bumper blasts, tube crawls, and climbing walls. Each PlayActive system includes interior activity descriptions showing participants which areas of the body they are exercising and scale of difficulty.
www.primeplay.com
FuturePlay
FuturePlay is blasting into the future of playgrounds once again with the launch of several new designs. Even the standard favorites have been given a new look. With the addition of rock climbing walls and rock crawls, more crawl tubes, and theme panels, the options for your playground have gotten to near out-of-this-world proportions, with the prices staying firmly grounded. FuturePlay Playgrounds are perfect for schools. Designed today, to last generations to come, they are lightweight, heavy duty, easy to clean, and very low maintenance.
www.futureplayus.com
Play Mart Noah’s Ark Mini Play System
Play Mart’s best-selling original-design Noah’s Ark Mini Play System brings to life biblical history in a creative play environment: elephants, lions, doves and giraffes travel in pairs along the hull of the Ark while spy tubes allow children to search for dry land from the upper decks. The Noah’s Ark also features crawl-thru panels and ship’s steering wheel. The structure is made from 100% recycled plastic materials with a 100-year warranty. Go Green with Play Mart’s environmentally-friendly products, featuring 27 years of manufacturing play systems.
www.playmart.com
EcoPlay Playgrounds from Safeplay Systems
Safeplay Systems custom designs, manufactures and sells play structures made from recycled post-consumer HDPE plastic (milk jugs). A single EcoPlay structure saves an average of 30,000 milk jugs from going to landfill. Not only are the play structures made of recycled material, they also are recyclable (sustainable) and they do not contain PVC, fiberglass or toxins of any kind. EcoPlay Playground structures require minimum maintenance, are impermeable to water, cannot be eaten by insects, never need painting or sealing, and won't splinter, crack, rust, swell or degrade in any way.
www.safeplaysystems.com
Progressive Design
PD Play Pad rubberized safety surfacing from Progressive Design Playgrounds offers a great surfacing option for your playground. Customizable, made-to-order patterns, or all one color, it is your choice. This highly durable rubberized surfacing offers a great value for your dollar with minimal maintenance costs and long-term use. The company’s network of playground consultants will work with you to design the perfect PD Play Pad to go with your school’s playground.
www.pdplay.com
