Rubber Mulch

Rubber Mulch is an inorganic fill material made of 100% recycled tires. It provides an environmentally friendly ground cover solution for landscape beds, playgrounds, and high-intensity obstacle training courses. Rubber mulch is low maintenance and longer-lasting alternative to wood fiber mulch, retaining its color for more than a decade of outdoor use.  

The Rubber Mulch Advantage

• Rubber mulch is anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and anti-pest. It will not attract wood-based pests such as termites, carpenter ants, or other nesting rodents such as rats 
• On average wood-fiber needs to be re-mulched every 1-2 years costing unnecessary time and energy.
• Easier to maintain as the greater density enables rubber mulch to stay in place while landscapers use gas powered blowers to clean flower beds. 

Rubber Mulch Out Perform Wood Mulch, Gravel, and Sand for Critical Safety Fall Protection

Rubber mulch has twice the shock absorbency over traditional wood chips and is IPEMA certified for up to 16' fall heights at a 6" compacted mulch depth.  
The chart below shows the ratings tested for fall height protection using rubber mulch using the ASTM F1292-13 testing standards. Rubber mulch or any playground surfacing will not guarantee that falls and accidents don't occur. Broken bones and bloody noses will can still happen at play, but using rubber mulch surfacing reduces the incidences of critical impacts from play equipment falls can that lead to critical head and traumatic injuries.

Automobile manufacturers and professional sports strive to advance technology to reduce driver and player traumatic injuries, so why haven't we held up those same high-standards for our children. Processed and color-treated Rubber mulch is the technological advancement in play equipment that will help keep our children as protected as industry. 

Alternative Playground Fill Options: 

Sand only offers a maximum fall height protection of 5 feet with a 9" compacted fill depth
Pea Gravel similarly offers up to 5' fall height protection at 9" fill depth, however in winter the gravel and freeze and become hard loosing much of its shock absorbency. 
Wood Mulch offers 7' fall protection with a 9" fill, and
Wood Fiber rates the best of the former group with up to 10' fall protection at 9" fill depth, however none of these even come close to Rubber Mulch. 

Rubber Mulch provides up to 16' critical fall protection at a 6" fill depth.  

Common Questions:

What if my dog or child ingests rubber mulch?

NuPlay & GroundSmart Rubber Mulches are 99.9% metal free, making it safe for both children and pet to play on. The Environmental Protection Agency has extensively studied rubber mulch and found it to be a safe, non- toxic material, posing no health hazards to pets or people. 

As with any accidentally ingested non-food object it's best to watch your child or pet until it passes, but the mulch should pass just fine on its own. Since digestive blockage risk exists with ingestion of any non-food object its best to consult your veterinarian or doctor if you become more concerned.

NuPlay Mulch
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GroundSmart Mulch
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