It is our job as purveyors of play to provide the best commercial and residential playgrounds for kids to enjoy. Constructing safe spaces that engage children’s minds and bodies is the best way to ensure that they’re getting the full intellectual, emotional, social, and physical benefits of play. Playgrounds built from recycled components will sustain and provide a safe play environment for generations to come. By crafting playgrounds from eco-friendly materials, we’re teaching our children the true value of our environment and allowing them the opportunity to experience it firsthand. Read more: http://goo.gl/aZQdBR

1. Ever since playgrounds were
first conceptualized, they’ve been evolving
in terms of design and substance. What
once began as a hub for imbuing good
behavior, playgrounds have evolved into
a space of limitless possibilities, where
kids can foster their creativity and learn
through fun and play. But playgrounds
offer kids more than just a recreational
outlet-they promote physical activity and
foment cognitive skills, inspire adventure
and encourage exploration, and build the
confidence and social skills needed to
make for well-adjusted adults.
As advancements in technology and
sustainability have revolutionized nearly
every industry, the manufacturing of
commercial and residential playgrounds
have aptly followed suit. In fact, the
materials used to construct playgrounds
have changed considerably over the years.
Today’s market includes systems built
from a wide range of materials, such as
recycled steel and aluminum, following
advancements in structural and reinforce-ment
construction. Over the past two
decades, the overall steel recycling rate has
steadily increased, lowering the industry’s
carbon footprint while maintaining the
metal’s integral physical properties.1
Another traditional building material
that has garnered support from envi-ronmental
groups is ethically harvested
wood. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-
certified wood, as well as the more readily
available Sustainable Forestry Initiative
(SFI)-certified wood, fulfill manufactur-ers’
need for forest products without
compromising their ecosystems. Although
both certifications ensure responsible for-est
management, they compete within the
market with heedlessly harvested product,
often making them a more expensive
alternative for playground manufacturing.
Environmentally
Friendly Playgrounds
In addition to these new adaptations of
conventional building materials, post-con-sumer
high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
recycled plastic lumber is perhaps the
most dexterous choice for production.
HDPE is among the most commonly
used plastics in the United States, and its
immense capabilities are transforming
the manufacturing of commercial and
residential playgrounds. In fact, it is so
durable even the U.S. military is utilizing
recycled HDPE to build bridges strong
enough for tanks to travel on.2
Becoming a more environmentally
sound industry is paramount, but it is
equally as important that recycled build-ing
components present a safe, enduring
substitute for the materials that they’re
replacing. HDPE recycled plastic lumber
does just that; providing a durable, low-maintenance,
weather-resistant material
that resists rot, repels heat, and preserves
color stability.
In addition to providing a greener
alternative for traditional playgrounds,
HDPE allows play spaces to be built
in virtually any environment without
the threat of deterioration, including
wetlands, coastal regions, and areas of
egregious temperatures. This advantage
begets the concept of natural playgrounds,
which encourage kids to engage with and
in natural elements. Natural playgrounds
help instill the importance of play dur-ing
the formative years of childhood,
and according to a recent study from
the University of Tennessee at Knoxville,
spaces that incorporate natural elements
are more beneficial to children and will
inspire more play.3
While recycled materials boast innu-merable
properties that make them
by John Ogden
ideal for playground manufacturing,
their greatest attribute lies in the reduc-tion
of resource consumption and pol-lution.
HDPE recycled plastic lumber
effectively utilizes millions of recycled
milk jugs, plastic bags, and water bottles
that would otherwise end up in landfills.
Additionally, it emits no harmful emis-sions
during production, unlike some of
its traditional manufacturing counter-parts.
4
But structures aren’t the only part
of the playground that are going green.
Site furnishings, shading, shelters, and
even surfacing products are emulating a
more environmentally-friendly fabrica-tion.
Tough, unyielding coverage options
are becoming obsolete, with 100% post-consumer
content available in the form
of poured-in-place rubber, synthetic turf,
wood fiber surfacing, and rubber tiles,
all befitting a safer and more sustainable
alternative. These low-maintenance prod-ucts
are impervious to extreme tempera-tures,
can withstand frequent foot traffic,
and don’t require mowing, watering, or
other costly upkeep.
As the playground manufacturing
industry continues to benefit from eco-friendly
advancements in construction
and engineering, one could easily infer
that the vast majority of playgrounds
today have been constructed from sus-tainable
materials like HDPE. However,
according to reports from the US
Consumer Product Safety Commission,
almost one-half of public playground
equipment is constructed primarily of
metal; of that allotment, nearly 80% is
more than 10 years old and is not distin-guished
as recycled content.5 Only a small
28 Playground Magazine Summer 2013 www.playgroundmag.com

2. percentage is listed as plastic, and there
are no definitive numbers regarding what
type of plastic the playgrounds have been
constructed from.
In the same US Consumer Product
Safety Commission report, a substantial
percentage of public equipment was listed
to be in fair condition, and described as
“rusted, broken, scarred, or abused.”5 Yet
playgrounds manufactured from HDPE
cannot suffer any of these impairments.
They’re uniquely fabricated to prevent
vandalism and graffiti. They resist rust
and will never delaminate, chip, or absorb
water like traditional materials. And
unlike the playgrounds of yesteryear
(which unfortunately remain prevalent
throughout parks, day care facilities,
apartment complexes, and more), they
have the ability to contain additives such
as flame retardants and UV stabilizers to
keep them looking new for a lifetime.
It is our job as purveyors of play
to provide the best commercial and
residential playgrounds for kids to enjoy.
Constructing safe spaces that engage chil-dren’s
minds and bodies is the best way to
ensure that they’re getting the full intellec-tual,
emotional, social, and physical ben-efits
of play. Playgrounds built from recy-cled
components will sustain and provide
a safe play environment for generations
to come. By crafting playgrounds from
eco-friendly materials, we’re teaching our
children the true value of our environ-ment
and allowing them the opportunity
to experience it firsthand.
Butch DeFillippo
Playsafe and Live Well!
• Owner of PlaySafe, LLC, a Recre-ational
Consulting Company.
• 32+ years of experience in the parks
and recreation field.
• Holds a BA and MA degree in Parks
and Recreation Administration.
• Certified Playground Safety Inspec-tor
(CPSI).
• Serves on National Recreation and
Park Association (NRPA) Certified
Playground Safety Inspector Exam
Review Committee.
• NRPA Certified Park and Recre-ation
Professional.
• Stranco Public Pool Operator Certi-fication.
• TRIAX 2000 Surface Impact Tester.
• Serves as a legal expert witness.
Read More at pgpnewscenter.com
References:
1 Recycle-Steel.org (2010, February 20). Steel
Recycling Rates at a Glance.
2 Schwartz, Ariel (2009, November 13). Would
You Feel Safe Driving Across a Recycled Bridge?
Fast Company. Retrieved from http://www.
fastcompany.com/1451763/would-you-feel-safe-driving-
across-recycled-plastic-bridge
3 University of Tennessee at Knoxville (2012, Oc-tober
11). Natural playgrounds more beneficial
to children, inspire more play, study finds.
4 United States Environmental Protection Agency
(2011, December). Municipal Solid Waste Gen-eration,
Recycling, and Disposal in the United
States.
5 US Consumer Product Safety Commission
(2012, July 23). Special Study: Injuries and
Deaths Associated with Children’s Playground
Equipment.
About the Author
John Ogden is the President of PDPlay,
a manufacturer of recycled plastic play-ground
equipment, site furnishings, nat-ural
playgrounds and playground safety
surfacing. Over the course of his 20+
year career, John has overseen numer-ous
successful initiatives for a range of
businesses from ventures at their earli-est
stage of development to Fortune 500
companies. John’s career includes work
in the public sector as a legislative aide
in the United States Senate and co-founding
a boutique winery in Sonoma.
www.playgroundmag.com Fall 2013 Playground Magazine 29