Nowadays, environmentally-friendly behavior is a common thing. You can find its traces in almost every area of your everyday life – you filter tap water that decreases the need to buy one in plastic bottles from the store, or you walk instead of driving to some places to reduce air pollution. You can even build a house with eco-friendly materials. What about playgrounds though? Can they also be eco-friendly?
The answer is YES. Moreover, some already are. How is it possible? Well, the most important factor is that they use materials that in the majority come from recycle, like recycled plastic and other side amenities. Some companies that produce playgrounds from wood actually grow their own trees, so every time they cut one tree they can easily replace it by planting a new one in its place.
You probably heard at least once somewhere that plastic is bad. The question is – why is that? What sort of things it does to be considered as bad? The crucial negative effect of using plastic to build a playground is that they contain and produce a lot of toxins that, with snow or rain, are transferred onto the surrounding soil, which makes it less suitable for animals and plants that depend on it.
If you’ll look at the plastic in general – not only in terms of a playground, you will see that plastic as a material is also dangerous. Firstly, most of it is not biodegradable and takes more than 400 years to degrade. And it doesn’t even degrade completely. Rather, it divides itself into smaller parts. There is also a problem with the plastic in the ocean that affects the wildlife there. Approximately 150 million metric tons of plastic is already circulating in our oceans. And every year around 8 million is added. Scientists predict that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
Now, since you know how dangerous plastic can be, let’s focus on the natural playground – how is different? will it make a difference for my children? Well. research has shown that natural playgrounds make them spend more time playing than traditional plastic ones. It also boosts their energy and stimulates their imagination. Also, it teaches the children that caring about the environment is important, and as an adult, they will stick to it as it will be what they’ve been taught since a very young age.
Looking into all the possibilities of an eco-friendly playground will definitely be worth your time. A lot of people believe that buying a set that is nature-friendly will be more expensive, but actually it can be even cheaper than a regular one.
And when you already have your environmentally-friendly playground, check out this infographic by PdPlay for game ideas to make the most of it.
