I haven’t searched the internet for any arguments pro or con on mulch. I will probably have to do this at some point. I know that there is good reason to fret when dumps with old tires catch fire but we don’t fret much about our tires when they are on cars. If they are carcinogenic or in some other way deadly its not obvious to me how. In the meantime I can personally attest to their being much softer than other substances I’ve seen in playgrounds.
I got a couple skeptical emails after airing the mulch posts. Here are two of them:
Handsome Harry: What the hell is the issue. When I was a kid in _______________, we had sawdust hauled in from a local sawmill. Worked fine. But back then, we didn’t have Wellstone Wackos and the idiotic Sierra Club banning logging and subsequently sawmills.
xxxxxx
And this from my Buddy:
Harry:
Just wondering. If rubber mulch is toxic; and if rubber mulch is made from used tires; and considering that tires presumably are emanating their components while being used; how is rubber mulch on certain surfaces, any more toxic than being in places where tires are being used and worn?
[Your Buddy]
I’d hate to think that the concern over rubber mulch is being fanned like the furor over vaccinating children. Parents latched onto that rumor leading to the return of once forgotten childhood diseases. So far my only personal objection to rubber mulch is that it ends up being tracked back to our house. Ditto wood chips and sand.
