A pair of homeowners made a hasty and uninformed decision to spread toxic rubber mulch in their yard — and their son was left to pick up the pieces, quite literally.
He posted on Reddit, asking for advice on how to clean up the debris, and was met with sympathy and frustration on his behalf.
"I will never understand how people ever think this is a good idea," one person vented. "Mulch doesn't just look good, it feeds your soil and helps keep moisture in the dirt. Rubber does NONE of that. It just poisons the water that gets to the dirt. Sigh."
"Yeah, I wasn't in favor of the idea," the original poster replied. "But I wasn't present enough at the time to help them think it through and now here we are. I'll figure something out."
As the commenter explained, natural mulch — such as grass, leaves, bark chips, and straw — serves an important biological purpose.
"Mulch helps conserve and extend available water, protects the soil from erosion, reduces competition by suppressing weeds, moderates temperature extremes, and acts as a barrier," the U.S. Department of Agriculture explained on its website.
Additionally, as organic mulch decomposes over time, it releases enriching nutrients into the soil, attracting beneficial insects and worms to improve soil health.
Unfortunately, with rubber mulch, the only things being released are toxins — lots of them. Rubber mulch is made of shredded tires, and tires are made with nearly 300 types of chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic.
Over time, these toxic chemical pollutants leak into the soil, harming the plants and animals that live and grow in the surrounding area. It's even been recommended that parents keep children away from rubber mulch, due to the toxic fumes that can be released from the material. And if that wasn't enough, it's also highly flammable.
Instead, the next time this son's parents are making landscaping decisions, they'd be better off using organic, rubber-free mulch to control weeds naturally for a beautiful, non-toxic yard.
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