I don't have it in my flower beds, but I do have it in the play area for my boys. Other than clean-up (which is no worse than other mulch, but not particularly easier) I'm very happy with it. I have a lot of deciduous, mostly oak, trees, so there is lots of leaf clean up. I can vacuum up all but the very bottom layer and because the rubber mulch is heavier, it doesn't get sucked up into the leaf vac as often as wood mulch. I am still picking up some leaves and acorns by hand though, so seeking a tip or trick for that. The rubber mulch can be lightly raked and turned if necessary, and nothing has managed to grow yet. My area is enclosed, so it doesn't get much dirt or soil mixed in, and there is gravel under my 8 inches of mulch before you get to my cement clay below. As for performance and attractive qualities: it drains better, doesn't retain water and stay wet and slippery, doesn't fade, doesn't decompose, never needs to be replaced, does not cause splinters or any kind of abrasion, is never muddy (amazing in Cleveland), is non-toxic, does not rot or mold or produce dust (my asthma really appreciates all of that), the only insect I've had in 2 1/2 years are a couple spiders in the corners (by the wood fence) and it uses old tires that would be scrap or require other uses for recylcle instead of going to the land fill or becoming mosquito breeding grounds. Both www.rubberrecycle.com and www.closetheloop.com support the use of recycled tires as mulch and the DEP promotes its use as well. The playground grade mulch is manufactured to strict safety standards and quality checked to remove virtually all steel content - I'd make sure you get a reputable product, not just some guy chopping tires and dying them at the back of a reclammation yard. You wouldn't want to be working in the garden and get stabbed by a piece of steel wire in your mulch. Also only non-toxic dyes are used in reputable products. It has been said that the rubber mulch can be used for landscaping purposes- but again it won't add any nutrients to the soil. For shock absorption purposes in play areas 6" of rubber playground mulch is safer than 12" of the leading other type of filler, and rubber mulch can protect against serious injury for falls up to 13 feet as opposed to less than 8 feet of the next best substance. If I ever see the rubber mulch in landscaping, I'll ask the owner how they like it. If you only need it for appearanc/weed suppression and not for growing anything, I think it would be fine, lower maintenance and more cost-effective long term than a biodegradable product.

I'd not be surprised that 20 to 25 years from now someone discovers that these shredded tire mulches have been delivering high levels of Cadmium, Zinc, and some other heavy metals are will be banned, just as CCA PT wood was.

kiimmsr,

I understand where your coming from but I like to think that the consumer has their head on straight and researches the product and asks those questions before they make a purchase.

The recycling process is supposed to remove the vast majority of contaminants associated with tires. It should also be treated and sealed as well. Therefore, Rubber Mulch will not pollute groundwater or pose an environmental hazard. Do your research as mentioned above, make sure you check the specific manufacturer.

Violet, how can running a tire through a shredder remove any contaminents? The only removing of stuff they do is the steel belts in the tires and they use magnets to do that. I have done much attempting to find good, solid research that shows shredded tire pose no harm to the environment and there is none. The EPA simply dropped what they had 20 years ago about the heavy metal contamination and has not replaced it with anything to even begin to indicate there is no potential. Keep in mind these are the same people that said the arsenic from CCA PT wood was nto a problme.t

I did a lot of research before I put it in, and while no one can say there is no POTENTIAL harm in, well, anything there seems to be no statistically valid, true scientific evidence that there is any harm. There is also very little truly unbiased research. The research being done is by the rubber mulch companies or by militant environmentalists whose personal feelings are "organic or bust" - also not unbiased. I did find research to say that quantity of lead and cadmium used in tires is negligible, only the zinc is over any significant quantity. My assumption is a lot of that content is actually in the steel belt that is removed (most steel has impurities). So far zinc has shown no serious threat to humans, but can be an issue to wildlife and difficult for water management. Some people have actually said that depending on your soil, leaching zinc into it may not be a bad thing, just like humans, some soil needs zinc supplements, other soils that do not need it would have a problem. The most research done is by the rubber mulch companies - but they do need to protect themselves from our litigous society, so I think they've probably done a fair job. I don't think there is a lot of funding for rubber mulch research by neutral sources. In general my rubber mulch doesn't move much (but it is contained) - it's heavier so it's not supposed to wash away in rain. I say use it responsibly, make sure it is contained in your bed and isn't going to somehow wash into storm drains or natural water sources regularly. I will take the benefits of now of fewer splinters, scrapes, cuts, insects, and greatly improved fall protection for my children versus the unproven, possibility of some harm in the future. After all, rubber mulch may be newer, but we've been using tires for a very long time and I haven't heard anything about the epidemic of early deaths of people who spent exessive time in their tire swings as children, or who worked in the tire industry, or automobile service industry handling tires all day. Frankly, if you are going to worry yourself over rubber tires, start with the zinc that is transferred to the roads each time a tire passes over that gets washed into the waters making it hard for fish/game/forestry/water management professionals. Or the excess tires that take up too much room in landfills, so many places are not accepting them or the high cost for tire reclammation that was leading people to burn them in the open or in devices (like cement kilns) not intended for the purpose releasing truly, proven, harmful gasses into the air. Remember, rubber mulch is made by recycling and using an unwanted item that would otherwise require disposal, and is difficult to dispose of. It has a valid market. There are fewer tires sitting around whole making mosquito breeding grounds, fewer tires being burned, fewer taking up space and never decomposing in landfills, and no cypress trees were injured in the making of rubber mulch. It's not natural, it's not a soil ammendment, but it very good for play areas, walks, tracks, and people who truly need and want low maintainence and long-term value. Of course it's not appropriate for people who change their mind frequently, because they'd have to remove it all, containerize it, and dispose of it properly (best option by garage sale or freecycle). The good news is using freecycle, people will probably do the removal work for you if they need the stuff and want it free. I honestly don't think a product that is being used regularly by "green architects/landscapers" for "green schools" and other "green buildings" poses that much of threat. If you like the look, and having heard the pros and cons, you think it meets your needs and will satisfy your requirements for the use, I'm sure it will be fine to use the rubber mulch, and I also believe you will be doing more good than harm for the environment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to FAQ/Answers about Rubber Mulch on Google

read this article and you won't want the stuff anywhere near your garden. I agree with her in that they want you to pay for relieving them of their hazardous waste.

www.paghat.com/rubbermulch.html

>how can running a tire through a shredder remove any contaminents?

kimmsr,

I never said that.

It's sealed with a colored coating that is non-toxic. And I don't like the shredded stuff that resembles "bark". I like the stuff that looks like stone.

Guys, I'm just as skeptical as the rest of you, but in this case I'm more open to it because I believe there are far worse things being sprayed on our produce we buy at the grocery store.

Again, I personally would never use it to mulch plants.

I was a Firefighter/EMT/Hazardous Materials specialist for many years and one thing we did was identify tire dumps and make efforts to get these hazardous materials dumps cleaned up. I can also remember when people were told to not use tires to ring flower beds because those tires would contribute heavy metal contaimination to the soil and make your garden a hazardous material site. What is in tires, they are not rubber today, is a hazardous material, was not too long ago and has not really changed except the information is no longer readily available.
People will justify what they do by any means, and if someone wants to contaminate their soil that is up to them, even thought it is wrong. Just do not try to justify your poisoning of this world as okay.

I have to agree with smlechten about worring about this compared to that. I don't think anyone is justifying anything but rather we have our backgrounds, research, and viewpoints and we're stating them for discussion in an open forum.

If anyone is seriously that worried about tire pollution, they should start writing the auto industries, tire manufactures, senators, congressmen, and do Public Service Announcements to educate the public that every time they drive their car the tires are "wearing" off directly onto the surface of this earth. That if they don't maintain correct tire pressure on a monthly basis, rotate tires regularly, drive at appropriate speeds, and avoid speed changes, fuel consumption and emission is greater and tires wear out faster which adds more tires to the tire pile.

"If an alien were to land on earth, the first thing he would notice about the "green planet"is the amount of cars there are on the streets. He would see that they come in all shapes and sizes, colors and are of many different brands. He would attempts to count the cars, but would get lost quickly because no brain can comprehend a number so large. In 1900 there were only 4,192 passenger cars built in the US (the only country to be manufacturing cars). There were no buses or trucks. By 1985 there were 109 million cars in existence. Today, with dozens of countries participating in the creation of automobiles, that number is six times larger.

It is estimated that there are approximately 600 million motor vehicles being driven on the streets of earth, the alien would be dumbfounded with this number. The biggest manufacturers are Japan, producing 8,056,000 cars in 1998, the US, with 5,554,000, and Germany with 5,348,000. With passing time, these numbers experience a rapid growth. For example, in 1960 Japan produced 185,000 cars, but by the end of the 1990s it was producing nearly 10 million a year. It is believed that at this growth rate, the number of cars on earth will double within the next 30 years. In this time scientists predict that traffic congestion will become 10 times worse than it is today. If in 2001 it is difficult to cross a major street without having to wait five minutes for the traffic to stop, how long will one have to wait in 2050?

Today the alien will notice that with such a large number of cars and people on earth, there are approximately ten people per car. But what will happen when he returns for a second trip in a hundred years? Will there be as many cars as people, or maybe by that time we'll have discovered a new method of transportation that is much more efficient and eco-friendly than the car? Only time can tell.

Marina Stasenko -- 2001"
Source: The Physics Factbook.

Now multiply those numbers at least four (more for trucks and trailers) and multiply again x3 for average number of sets of tires per car.

"...the average lifetime per passenger car is 126,678 miles. Thus, currently the average car would have 3 sets of tires on their car over its lifetime (new, at 45,000 miles, and at 90,000 miles) and with TPMS the average car would have 3 sets of tires purchased (new, at 47,736 miles, and at 95,472 miles)."
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2001).

The content of hazardous material in tires is certainly available.

"What makes up a tire?
Tires are composed of natural rubber from rubber trees, synthetic rubber made from petrochemical feedstocks, carbon black, extender oils, steel wire, up to 17 heavy metals, other petrochemicals and chlorine.

* Synthetic rubber often contains the organic chemicals styrene and butadiene. Styrene, a benzene derivative, is a suspected human carcinogen.
* Butadiene is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals and is a suspected human carcinogen. Studies show a strong association between leukemia and butadiene.
* Extender oils contain benzene based compounds which cause cancer in laboratory animals. Crude oil contains heavy metals, including, but not limited to, lead, chromium, cadmium, and mercury.
* A coal and tire chlorine content comparison showed that tires may contain as much as 2 to 5 times the chlorine level of western coal. The coal averaged a chlorine weight of .04% and tires showed a weight range of .07 to .2 percent.".
Source: Health Impacts of Burning Tires

"Automobile tires are composed of carbon black reinforced rubber. Typical composition of tires is 62% styrene butadiene copolymer rubber, 31% carbon black, and other materials, such as extender oils, sulfur, zinc oxide and stearic acid, which are present in smaller amounts."
Source: Center for Environmental Science and Technology, University of Missouri-Rolla

"Typical Tire Composition:
Styrene Butadiene - 46.78%
Carbon Black - 45.49%
Aromatic Oil - 1.74%
Zinc Oxide - 1.40%
Astearic Acid - 0.94%
Antioxidant 6C - 1.40%
Wax - 0.23%
Sulfur - 1.17%
Accelerator CZ - 0.75%"
Source: Effects of Waste Tires, Waste Tire Facilities, and Waste Tire Project on the Environment

Does anyone use a washing machine with any common laundry detergent from the local store? It is proven that the chemicals in detergent used with the water we use and recycle thru Public Works have a direct environmental impact in our lakes and rivers which in turn directly effects wildlife and humans who drink water. They contain endocrine disrupters which has already been "...linked to impotency and premature puberty in both sexes... The hormone disrupts the endocrine system, upsetting the balance of the body's natural hormone levels".

"Detergents interfere with the ability of frogs to breathe through their skin, and tadpoles to breathe through their gills. Michael J. Tyler of the Department of Zoology at the University of Adelaide, Australia".
Source: Endocrine Disrupters

As long as humans are living on this planet, we're going to affect this world one way or another. Most of us are probably not going to become homesteaders or Amish so we're going to use resources that are not environemtally friendly like using electricity to power a lightbulb in our house which is commonly created by burning coal and oil.

"A major contributor to the green house effect is carbon dioxide, which is produced from the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) in vehicles, industrial boilers and residential furnaces. The average car pumps two to three times its own weight in carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year."
Source: Drive Green - Environmental Guide to Driving

I have some amount of faith in technology today. It's easy get a sod cutter, lay black plastic down, then pour the mulch on top if anyone is worried about leeching. This is no different than useing treated wood for a vegetable garden and covering it with black plastic or growing potatoes in a stack of lined tires. Heck, it may be even better since the rubber itself is sealed. It's a thin layer so it's easy to maintain. 80 mile an hour winds don't spread it to different locations.

"The average passenger car tire measures about 26 inches across, but take away just a quarter-inch of tread and it becomes an accident waiting to happen.

The United States, like the rest of the industrialized world, goes through a lot of tires. Approximately one tire is discarded per person each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 250 million scrap tires are generated in the United States each year, not counting another 45 million scrap tires that are used to make 34.5 million automobile and truck tire retreads every year.

Until the 1960s, rubber from scrap tires was routinely recycled, but that started to change as cheap oil imports �" the raw material behind synthetic rubber �" made reclaimed rubber less valuable, and the spread of steel belted tires made tire recycling more expensive, difficult and time-consuming.

As so often proves true when waste makes short-term economic sense, the long-term consequences of wasting scrap tires began to accumulate.

Scrap tires not only waste landfill space, they can damage the linings put in place to keep groundwater and surface water from mixing with landfilled contaminants. Tires discarded illegally �" individually as litter or collectively in clandestine tire dumps �" are an eyesore and a drag on surrounding property values. They also pose threats to public health and safety.

Tire dumps provide excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and elevated incidents of mosquito-borne diseases have been noted near large tire piles.

[Bloody-thirsty invader
There are about two hundred species of mosquito in the United States and Canada; 43 of them can carry West Nile Virus. One exotic species, the aggressive Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus), arrived in Texas in a shipment of used tires from Japan. By 1996, Asian Tiger Mosquitoes had reached Ohio.]

Tire pile fires have been an even greater environmental problem. Tire pile fires can burn for months, sending up an acrid black plume that can be seen for dozens of miles. That plume contains toxic chemicals and air pollutants, just as toxic chemicals are released into surrounding water supplies by oily runoff from tire fires. Fighting a tire pile fire is not only futile in some cases, it can actually make the pollution problem worse.

In Ohio, the last straw came in 1999, when a 140-acre tire dump in northeastern Ohio burned for five days, disgorging a column of toxic smoke that could be seen 60 miles away and releasing oil into a nearby creek, killing thousands of fish in the Sandusky River system."
Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources

"Notable Tire Fires

* In 1983, a 7-million tire fire in Rhinehart, Virginia issued a plum of smoke 3,000 feet high and nearly 50 miles long with air pollution emissions deposited in three states. The fire burned for nine months, polluting nearby water sources with lead and arsenic. The tire storage facility where the fire occurred is now being cleaned-up as a Superfund site.

* In 1999, a lightning strike ignited a tire fire in Westley, California. The tire dump contained millions of scrap tires located in a canyon in a coastal mountain range. The large smoke plume from the fire impacted nearby farming communities and caused widespread concern of potential health affects from exposure to the smoke emissions. The tire fire also produced large volumes of pyrolitic oil that flowed off the slope and into the drainage of an intermittent stream. This oil was ignited too and the oil fire significantly increased the smoke emissions close to ground level. A response to the oil and tire fires was beyond the capabilities of local and state agencies. The EPA regional coordinator immediately responded using Oil Pollution Act of 1990 authority. It took 30 days to extinguish the fire. Total EPA response costs were $3.5 million."
Source: Environmental Protection Agency.

Have you seen the houses built of tires?
"The problem with land-filling tires is the enormous volume of discarded tires. Landfill space is very expensive in 1990s America, thereby making the land-filling of tires an expensive disposal alternative. Tires also tend to collect methane in a landfill, become negatively buoyant, and create a physical problem in the landfill. Reusing a tire in an Earthship, where it becomes a beneficial resource, and spends its future in an inert setting is an ideal ultimate use for discarded tires. Large scale private industry does not consider this to be a viable alternative because it is not profitable to them. In order to place the issue of tire off-gassing into perspective, one might consider other common chemicals affecting indoor air quality. Formaldehyde is a chemical used in the manufacture of textiles and carpets commonly located in the living space of human dwellings. It is also classified by NIOSH as a known carcinogen. The vapor pressure of formaldehyde is 470 kPa at standard temperature (CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics). This means that formaldehyde will readily travel into the breathing space of a dwelling, especially when the source (carpet) is located within the occupied space of a dwelling. This is a much more direct pathway of exposure than that of Earthship tires. One further point to be made is that the concentration of carbon black in air can be measured, and standards for acceptable exposure do exist. The NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) for carbon black is 3.5 mg/m^3 (ten hour time weighted average). This is a workplace standard, so a lower value would be appropriate for residential situations. A study could be performed in several Earthships of varying age measuring the byproducts of rubber degradation. These results could then be used to perform a risk assessment of the use of tires in Earthships. My intuition is that this risk would be several orders of magnitude lower than the risk posed by activities such as living in a house with new carpet, eating peanut butter, driving a car, or smoking cigarettes. In the absence of such a study, my personal judgment is that the risks of living in a properly designed and constructed Earthship are negligible compared to the environmental benefits of Earthship living.

Chris Kaiser, Alamosa, CO

PS If anyone is interested in looking into this on their own, the CAS# for carbon black is 1333-86-4, and the RTECS# is FF5800000."

Digging acres of holes and dumping used tires in them with no protection or burning them is outright "poisoning of this world". Recycled tires used as mulch can be re-sealed as well which you can do yourself. It significantly reduces playground injuries. You can actually take an egg and drop it from a height of 12 feet and watch it bounce. Anyone who has ever fallen on gravel or asphalt in a playground can appreciate that.

So which is the better of the worse here? The fact is, we have a serious tire problem and it's not going away any time soon. It's an environmental issue no matter how you look at it. At least there are some practical re-use options. Should we tell the recycle companies to take their sealed mulch and shove it back into a hole in the ground? Or tell them to leave the original unsealed tires in the ground to begin with?

Oh My.

I tend to fall on the "there are a lot more worrisome things than rubber mulch" end of the spectrum. I wouldn't use it on my plants, but I'll bet it's great under a swingset.

Everyone that is so against this.. just curious.. do you use rubber hoses in your garden? Most people do, we do. Ours are made of recycled tires... what about a soaker hose? anyone against the rubber mulch have one of these??? Well, guess what???... made of recycled tires too. Out west I can remember seeing a sign on a roadway that stated that the highway was paved with a material that included .. guess what.... recycled tires. wow. hard to believe that an interstate would be made of something so toxic. (I can't remember if it was I-80 or I-70. We went and visited fmaily in Colorado and went the Northern Route out- Into Cheyenne, Whyoming and took the southern route home, through Denver)- Thank God they are coming up with creative ways to use the used tires!

bluejean
"judge not, lest we be judged"

With the exception of "soaker hoses", made of recycled tires, most all garden hoses are made of vinyl today. There are some made of rubber but they tend to be more expensive than the vinyl hoses.

Thought I'd give this a bump due to the Gardener's Supply catalog I just got. I am putting in some new gardens and am considering the recycled rubber edging mulch mats they have. It looks pretty good and I think you can mow right over it. Any opinions?

Here is a link that might be useful: rubber border mulch

I would think it would become more messy than anything (everyone else has exhausted my environmentally-friendly remarks here).

The following season, when you go to 'clean up things' you have to move this rubber mulch, somehow clean it up, and put it back. Seems like more of a PITA to me...

I just thought it was weird.

lauriefree,

Haven't seen that one yet. I'd go for one that looks more natural than not. If you do get it, tell us what you think. It's always hard to tell true color, texture, and feel without seeing it in person.

I have it around a couple beds in my front. The coloring blends nicely with my organic compost mulch, and clean up is a breeze. I picked out two tiny weeds that were not well established and swept the mulch back into the bed. I did not have to remove it and can't imagine why I would. It keeps my grass and bed separated, and I do indeed mow over it, and even use a string trimmer near it with no problems yet. This is my second season. It looks fine to me, hasn't killed anything, has not been a PITA at all, and I'm quite pleased.

Good luck,
Sherri

Regarding the rubber mat question from lauriefree: We have 2 tree rings x 4-5 yrs & they have been great to keep the mower/weedeater away from the tree trunks, no weeds & they help maintain moisture. I'm not compulsive re: cleanliness but my husband is & he hasn't needed to do anything to them. Color is good dark brown & hasn't faded even in our hot,dry clim. As the tree trunk enlarges,we just split the center a bit more or move to a smaller tree. I thought they were a bit pricy but they have lasted very well & I would say well worth it. We also don't have to worry about burying the tree too deep over the years with mulch as it decomposes. My daughter has an oak tree that has probably 2 ft of buildup that should be removed....I haven't volunteered for that job either!(;-)

Ascetically I'd think more people would reject ground tires in their landscape. The thought of it being part of my lawn/garden experience doesn't appeal. Shoot you might as well roll out some astroturf and plant some plastic trees and plants to complete the theme. ;>)

I find it interesting that most of these comments come from folks who don't use the rubber mulch. I do. I put it in my front beds last year, and it looks exactly the same as it did the day I installed it. It is NOT TRUE that seeds and clippings sink through it and thus will grow on top of it, because this is not organic matter and therefore does not harbor seedlings. That's why it's a superior mulch. Since when do organic mulches work as well as "anything", unless you've got landscape fabric down everywhere? This stuff looks real and has no smell. You can water and fertilize your plants just like you would with any other material, except this will not decompose and adds a superior weed and moisture barrier to your beds. My plants have never looked better. Try it especially where you would use rock - like in xeriscape gardens. Awesome! I'll never go back.

Back in the 70's someone came up with the brilliant idea to dump used tires into the ocean to create reefs (Like Ma Nature can't do that all on Her own if left to do it!). Now the experts realize this was a HUGE mistake and an expensive clean-up is supposedly taking place. Millions of tires need to be removed from our oceans.

I think I will err on the side of used tire/rubber stuff NOT being a good thing for my garden. I know how hard it was to remove a rock mulch from a flower bed that a previous owner created. I can only imagine how difficult it will be to remove shredded tire mulch when the brilliant minds finally catch up with common sense and decide it's as bad thing on land as it is in our oceans.

Nobody responding here has any clue what they are talking about. All of these comments about the rubber tires being bad for garden and landscape areas are just stupid...because it's obvious that everyone with a negative opinion here has never used the product. I've had it in the flower beds in my yard for a couple of years, and it's GREAT. It looks exactly like real mulch, and the color never fades (so it doesn't have to be replaced on a regular basis like real wood mulch), and weeds do not grow up through it. And before bad-mouthing the product, it seems prudent to use a little common sense and actually research the product, to educate yourself on the cleaning process the rubber goes through when it's recycled into mulch. So I suggest anyone who wants a REAL opinion on the product should ignore all of these ignorant people who know absolutely nothing about it.

I laid down 1.5 inches of Premium Shredded mulch from these folks: http://rubbermulch.org last year. I laid it down over weed barrier and I have been very satisfied with the results. My rose bush has never grown as quickly as this year. It appeared to me that the rubber mulch did a great job insulating the plants and keeping moisture in. I have had a ton of problems with weeds in the past but I have not had to spend an hour this season dealing with weeds in the beds I have rubber mulch in. It does look great and it is low maintenance. I'm planning on covering two additional areas in my backyard next month.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://rubbermulch.org

violet

Your post is an amazing piece of background research. Like a Doctoral thesis.

Like so many things, the harm are lifestyle does to the Earth is lost in a mountain of trivia.

Who has ever given a moments thought to what happens to a tire?

So instead of dismissing the idea of brown rubber mulch give more careful thought to the alternatives. It seems to me a positive development one that like most things can be found to have problems but what doesn't?

The simple fact that nothing will grow in rubber mulches should be a clue that it would not be something good in your garden. I know of several municipal and school playgrounds that had shredded rubber laid down and then after research was done and those in charge determined the children plating there were being exposed to excessive levels of heavy metals they, at great expense, had that stuff removed.
There is nothing good about recycled tire mulches.

EPA has NOT suggested that it is completely safe. Any studies that I have seen indicate that they know that any studies they've done have been limited, highly inconclusive. They list the toxic chemicals that are released over time and recommend that if it is used in a play ground that children wash frequently, especially before eating.

One thing that I have not seen mentioned in these many posts is how terrible it smells on a hot summer day! That, alone, is a good reason for removing it from a playground.

As these crumb particles are decomposed, the many toxic substances will be released into the soil. Thus, not only does this product NOT address the essential biota of a working soil system, but it poisons it.

So, considering the fire hazard, the smell, the toxicity (acute and chronic), and the negative impact on soil macro and micro organisms....I doubt that it will be on the market much longer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for some more fact-based information

I will preface this by saying that I DO work for a company mentioned in this thread, Pinnacle Rubber Mulch. Take that for what it's worth - it doesn't make any of the following statements more or less truthful:

1. When properly installed and maintained, Pinnacle Rubber Mulch provides a playground surface that meets or exceeds U.S. Product Safety Commission guidelines and ASTM Standards for play surfaces.

2. When properly installed and maintained, a 6” depth of Pinnacle Rubber Mulch provides 16’ of fall height protection per ASTM F1292-09.

3. When properly installed and maintained, a depth of 6” of Pinnacle Rubber Mulch is wheel chair accessible per ASTM F1951-99.

4. Rubber Mulch is IPEMA certified for ASTM F1292-04.

5. We use a non-toxic, polyurethane coating chemically cured to the rubber. While the potential for zinc leach from Pinnacle Rubber Mulch is already below the EPA’s Secondary Maximum Contaminate Levels (SMCL), the proprietary chemically-bonded coating reduces zinc leaching and run off by at least 60% when using a constant water flush test method.

6. While there can be a smell when the Rubber Mulch is first installed, it is gone within 1-2 days, regardless of heat or exposure.

Just to mention this as well: When the EPA recommends that children who play outside wash their hands, they clearly state that they recommend that at all times, regardless of the material on which children are playing.

We have installations on many playgrounds throughout North America, and not once has it ever even been suggested that it be removed. Nor have we ever found evidence to support claims that any other brand of rubber mulch was removed for health concerns. Rubber Mulch, Pinnacle Rubber Mulch in particular, is a safe, durable, high-quality product that is a great addition to any Playground or Landscaping project. I suggest you haters out there do a bit more research before making unfounded claims about safety.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rubber Mulch

I have a question for those who use it: how do you add organic material to your soil? It seems that, esthetics aside, you either like the look or you do not, and leaching aside, it either does or it doesn't, what I find myself thinking about from a practical perspective is how would you replenish the soil with organic matter? Or have you thought about that? Your soil, "protected" as it is by a thick rubber mulch, will eventually "run out" of organic matter. What is your plan? Not to mention you won't have any worms, if not already then eventually, so you lose all of their well-documented benefits.

I don't say this to be provocative (though I would never use it myself!), but it strikes me as a real practical concern. Also, how on earth do you transplant, divide, add new plants? I can't imagine doing this in my garden without little rubber nuggets getting in the holes and backfilled soil.

Go google "tire fires" and then consider putting ground tire mulch on your property.

I'm just not a fan of permanent fixes.
Ya never know if you have to move it.
I learned that from the previous beds at the place I moved into. 6 inches of pea gravel.
What a pain getting rid of that stuff.
Give me something that rots and goes away after a while while improving the soil.

I guess I'm more a leather jacket sort of guy rather than one who prefers the "advantages" of vinyl.

Expressly not an attack, but since you are back I will ask my question again, which I think is fair:

I have a question for those who use it: how do you add organic material to your soil? It seems that, esthetics aside, you either like the look or you do not, and leaching aside, it either does or it doesn't, what I find myself thinking about from a practical perspective is how would you replenish the soil with organic matter? Or have you thought about that? Your soil, "protected" as it is by a thick rubber mulch, will eventually "run out" of organic matter. What is your plan? Not to mention you won't have any worms, if not already then eventually, so you lose all of their well-documented benefits.
I don't say this to be provocative (though I would never use it myself!), but it strikes me as a real practical concern. Also, how on earth do you transplant, divide, add new plants? I can't imagine doing this in my garden without little rubber nuggets getting in the holes and backfilled soil.

We bought 3 rolls of it and one of them has been laying in between areas where peppers and flowers will go in a few weeks. Obviously, I did this way before I discovered this thread because I will remove it now with all the leaching talk around here.
My impression is - it looks ugly. It doesn't move much, even though I didn't staple it to the ground with garden staples. But it does get a bit squishy in the rain and all the pebbles or chunks of dirt that falls on it, just sits there, unlike what you'd have with wood or straw mulch. Also, the rubber chips are crumbling off around the edges...not a lot, but c'mon - it's only been a month! I read carefully what I other people are saying about tire disposal issues and I do find them valid, but I don't think this material is suitable for gardening areas. In Home Depot this stuff is sold next to mulches and I think it should be sold near landscaping materials, because it's rather misleading.

I do not like rubber mulch & would not use it.
But I have to ask, if it is so bad why are you driving cars with it?
At least you should car pool, if not bike to work.
No gas smell & smaller tires on a bike.
I prefer to use compostable mulch.

Well, actually I don't drive, so I don't feel so bad about that, but I think the arguments in this thread went is sort of separate directions. I think there are plenty of people out there, who, like me, think it's totally acceptable at children's playgrounds, landscaping paths...any area where you need to provide a non-slip walking surface...heck, you could even put it near your flower areas...it just doesn't seem like a good idea to place it near edibles.

Hello, I am new to Garden Web and have to say this is a great website. With that said, I wanted to comment that I have used rubber mulch for 2 years now. I combine it with organic mulch, and compost. My plants have doubled in size. I will never go back to just organic mulch. The color never fades. I also used it on my flagstone paths. I have almost forgotten how to weed. I could go on and on. Love it.

We have a magnolia tree where grandchildren’s swings are hung. The roots are exposed in many places and on a bit of a slop that has water runoff. Would you use rubber mulch there to stop the loss of ground/dirt under the tree and keep a nice layer of protection for the grands play area? This area is only used a couple of times a month.

No. It's nasty stuff. Wood chips will do the trick nicely, or similar like bark fines. And they'll be good for the soil and trees including the roots.

Agreed. Rubber mulch has a nasty tendency to kill things that are under or around it. It's not exactly the best thing going. Natural wood mulches will hold water for the tree, slowly decay naturally to gently feed the tree, and cushion falls.

Rubber is also more flammable. Enough said on that one.

Both will have a tendency to have oddball materials in them, so inspect any mulch piles before you buy. One place I used to get wood mulch from frequently had rusty nails and other not such nice things in it. Post changing, the new place (cheaper as well) featured much higher quality mulch with absolutely no foreign material.

Small correction to my above, I wrote bark fines, I just meant bark mulch, any bark mulch really.

When I put a lot of wood chips down on parts under trees where the kids play, my spouse expressed some concern about whether there would be sharp bits for the kids. A month later never heard a word about it. Kids are tougher than a lot of adults think and wood chips a lot less painful for knees or hands than tough tree roots and hard dry ground. And the wood chips will get softer (start to decompose) quite quickly in touch with the ground and a bit of water - the idea or concern about splinters is a non-issue. If really dry to start, lightly spraying with some water to dampen them is okay. Apart from that the most you might have to do is rake them a bit if they go down the slope.

I've been fortunate enough to never have an issue with foreign materials in wood chips, but good idea to check when acquiring. Shaking in whatever you have them in (bucket or wheelbarrow) will tend to make metal bits like nails settle to bottom but hopefully there won't be anything.

Small additional point: when you're getting some, if you're just eyeballing it, you'll end up wanting more than you think at first - as a rule of thumb I'd say you'll want twice or thrice what seems like a lot, and four times more than you think at first probably won't be overdoing it. If you don't, you'll end up wanting more later. If your first guess won't fit in your vehicle, get it delivered.

What seems like a lot turns out to not be that much when it's spread out on the ground, and then it'll settle and decompose quite a bit - quicker than you think.

The nice thing is it's hard to overdo it, and if you end up with more than you want to spread at first, pile it up in a corner and it'll shrink on its own by the time you need it (and you will).

Okay people who do exact calculations and have experience with it can ignore this, and I'm not suggesting putting down two feet deep to start. But an inch thick layer will seem like hardly anything after a couple months. It'd actually be hard to put down so much that it'd be bad for the soil.

I'm a person who does exact calculations and has experience and I still order too little every time I order it. :-) 10 cu yards goes a lot less far than I think, every single time. By about half.

A cubic yard is equal to 27 cubic feet. That is 3x3=9x3=27, so the cube is 3 feet or 36 inches high X36" wide X36" deep. So if you want 6 inches deep spread, divide the 3 feet by 6 inches, which is a6 inch deep 6 feet wide X 9 feet long plot.

https://www.soildirect.com/calculator/cubic-yard-calculator/#:~:text=A%20cubic%20yard%20is%20equal,is%20equivalent%20to%201.5%20tons.

I'm not debating or doubting the math here (but would note that whatever depth is laid down, count on it being about half as much after two-three months).

And maybe more gardeners/yard folk are good at actually measuring the area they want to cover and doing the calcs and buying by the cubic yard than I think. But a lot of people buy in bags without measuring, and then bags are in a different unit, etc., etc. Oh, and then once they've got some mulch, they realize there are some other parts of the yard/garden where it would be useful, too. And - again my experience - being surprised by how quick it settles out.

(There's the other side of this - we periodically have one poster or another here warn about the dangers of "too much compost" - which is possible, theoretically, but - except for small beds or containers - when you do the math and check is such HUGE amounts year after year that it's not really plausible, except maybe for those who mulch/compost really heavily and fertilize.)

Well, you can over-compost and over-mulch. Let's say four to six inches is the normal limit because...well, anything past that is simply a lot anyway. Eight is ridiculous. A foot would be weird.

Tire fires should be restricted to where they belong. In a tire dump.

@morpheuspa - that may have came out wrong. What I was trying to get across is that it's really physically difficult - in terms of the sheer volumes required - to overmulch/compost. In other words, buy more than you think you need because it's almost never going to be too much unless truly ridiculous.

And yes, twelve inches deep would be ridiculous. But I couldn't do that even for a decent part of our modest sized yard without truly industrial quantities.

Don't worry, I knew what you meant. :-) But some people do say, "You can't add too much [compost, mulch, peat...]" You can.

My back neighbor, Mr. Don't Need Your Advice, dug 18" of peat into his very small garden. Then wondered why it wouldn't hold water unless it was completely flooded in our heavy silt soil, every plant died (the pH of 4.5 probably didn't help)... While mine, in native heavy silt, just blooms and blooms and blooms...

Crap. Well, that's flat out, then. Even in rural environments, one thunderstorm generates quite enough ozone, thank you very much. And where aren't NOX gasses these days?

Not for use around fruit trees where you want and need the organic matter to decompose and feed the trillions of microbes per teaspoon of soil to make that fruit tree happy.

Violet_Z6 I agree.

The wood chips with wine cap mushrooms will break down chips to compost & you will have mushrooms with your grape, apple & berries.