Allison Walker, Your Home

Jodi Jones of Global Tire Recycling in Wildwood said she would rather see a kid fall on a surface of rubber nuggets, chunks of recycled tires, instead of on other, less "cushiony" playground surfaces.

"The fall height is 12 feet versus the sand or the dirt," Jones said.

At the Home and Garden Show at the Orange County Convention Center, Jones said the 100 percent recycled rubber mulch would not cause splinters like other surfacing, but it also has another benefit: No weeds.

"The weed seeds land on top, and they'll never get to the ground below, so they can't germinate, as opposed to cyprus mulch," Jones said. "They would land on cyprus mulch, which turns into dirt, so it grows the weeds."

Landscape mulch is bigger than the kind you would use in the play area, so it would stay put during heavy rainfalls.

The rubber nuggets do not absorb water, and should not deteriorate.

Unlike conventional mulch, Jones said this stuff does not attract insects.

Jones said she likes knowing 2 million whole waste tires a year are reused.

"Tires go through shredders, and wire, too," Jones said.

Wire was not supposed to find its way into the mulch.

To find out other ways to use 100 percent recycled tires, visit Global Tire Recycling. 

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