Shampoo Bottles become Picnic Table in Channahon

Recycling in motion

By: Submitted to the Herald

Many items found in Channahon Park District's parks and playgrounds, including this picnic table, are made from recycled plastics. The park district has been using recycled plastic timbers on its park benches and permanent picnic tables for 16 years. It takes 1,275 milk jugs to make the plastic timbers on each picnic table. (Photo provided by Channahon Park District)

CHANNAHON — Recycled plastics from containers such as milk jugs, juice and shampoo are among the materials that can be found in Channahon Park District parks and playgrounds.

For instance, the Channahon Park District has been using recycled plastic timbers on its park benches and permanent picnic tables for 16 years. The use of plastic timbers has eliminated the need for yearly painting and the need to replace timbers due to rotting.

Most of the timbers are still the original timbers. It takes 510 milk jugs to make the plastic timbers on each park bench and 1,275 jugs for the plastic timbers on each picnic table

Recycled plastic timbers are also in use at Skateland Recreation Center as kick boards along the skate floor. Wood kickboards constantly had to be replaced due to splintering of the wood by skates.

The plastic timbers do not splinter and most of the boards are still the original ones that were installed 15 years ago.

Other examples of the park district's use of recycled materials includes:

PLAYGROUND SURFACING MATERIAL

The wood used to make ther playground surfacing is virgin material in that it has not been used for anything else, like pallets or fencing, but recycled because they use the ends of lumber that are being processed and are a waste to the lumber industry. 

PLAYGROUNDS

More and more of the plastic, steel and aluminum used in the playgrounds is recycled material. The recycled plastic material comes from household containers for dish and laundry detergent, juice, shampoo and more.

When the playground is removed, the plastic, steel and aluminum materials can be recycled again to make new playground equipment.

FERTILIZERS

Some of the fertilizer used in the parks contains a product called nutri-pel. Nutri-pel is dried pelletized processed sewage sludge from waste treatment plants that replaces many of the chemicals used in typical fertilizer.

It is environmentally friendly as it does not contain chemicals that can leach into the water table or run off into the rivers and streams.  It has no odor and is safe enough to use in vegetable gardens.  

WOOD CHIPS AND GRASS CLIPPINGS

Wood chips and grass clippings are materials that have been recycled back into the environment for centuries, and many people forget about these as being recycled materials.

The wood chips used in most of the park district’s landscape beds come from trees and limbs cut down and chipped up by park district staff or from tree trimming firms who give them to the park district at no cost.

Grass clippings breakdown in the soil and provide nutrients to the grass plants, reducing the amount of fertilizer needed to be applied. 

For more information on the Channahon Park District, visit www.channahonpark.org or call 815-467-PARK (7275).

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