How to Use Rubber Sidewalks
Rubber sidewalks are a natural outgrowth from the recycled tires that have been used in playgrounds over the past few years. Here are some tips on how you can use a rubber sidewalk in your landscape and some information on the benefits involved. Does this Spark an idea?
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Rubber sidewalks can avoid tree root problems by creating a permeable surface that keeps tree roots from reaching upward for water as commonly happens with cement sidewalks and walkways. Use a rubber sidewalk where a pathway will be passing close to growing trees and you won't have to deal with lifting and cracking concrete.
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Rubber sidewalks have great potential for jogging and other athletic uses. They are safer since a fall will be cushioned and walking and running will be softer for foot impact. The possibilities for designing attractive pathways around a landscape can have multiple uses as well as being an artistic asset.
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Rubber sidewalks are sold as modular installations. This makes them easy to lay and easy to remove. As a result, modular systems can be placed over areas that would be hard to dig or cement over. You can also lift the sections to check roots of trees that might be beneath.
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The potential to use modular rubber sidewalks as pathways for residential building is just beginning. There is an opening here to create patios and other areas that would be easy to sculpt with flexible rubber. It is still being tested on a larger format in cities across the country.
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Over 90 cities have started installing rubber sidewalks and found them to be not only a great way to recycle old rubber tires, but to avoid injuries and save tree root damage. The possibilities for artistic designs have hardly been explored yet. Rubber sidewalks already offer cost savings, flexibility and durability as well as environmental benefits in tire recycling, less storm water runoff and reduced greenhouse emissions. Although there is still some question about trace toxic materials involved in the production of the original tires, cleaning techniques are improving and these traces will still remain in old tires wherever they are - even in a dump. There are also emissions involved in the production of the rubber sidewalks, but the greenhouse pollution is but a fraction of the amount involved in the production of concrete. Expect to see more and more companies offering rubber sidewalk products to homeowners, businesses and other markets soon.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Photos courtesy of Rubbersidewalks Inc.
