Is Rubber Mulch Bad For The Environment?

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Mulch can be an excellent source of nutrition that gives your garden the look of Spring vitality. Known as the “gardener’s friend,” organic mulch can herald fresh, wholesome food from garden to table. Rubber mulch is also essential to ensuring the safety of children at playgrounds and parks.  

But is rubber mulch a threat to the environment? 

Rubber mulch is bad for the environment because of its leakage properties and excessive chemicals. Although the EPA has not officially disapproved it, the chemicals that break down from rubber mulch, such as high levels of zinc and molybdenum, are known to have adverse results with excessive exposure. 

While recycling is meant to protect the environment, breaking old materials into new ones can contaminate the new product with residual chemicals. This makes it risky to apply rubber mulch to plant life.

Keep reading to learn more about rubber mulch’s purpose, properties, and dangers to the environment. 

When Is rubber mulch bad for the environment?

Rubber mulch is primarily used for three main reasons: playgrounds, gardens, and landscaping. 

Playgrounds

As far as playgrounds, rubber mulch appears to be not only safe but necessary. Rubber mulch helps children safe by cushioning falls.

COVID-19 has also made parents more concerned about the cleanliness of local parks. Because rubber mulch is non-porous, it is easier to clean and sanitize regularly. 

Landscaping

Rubber mulch is used for landscaping because of its non-porous material and anti-fungus properties. 

This makes it ideal for aesthetically pleasing projects. 

Gardens

However, rubber mulch can be harmful, if not unpleasant, regarding consumption and the eco-system. 

Rubber mulch can be flammable if not correctly placed or regulated for summer’s increasingly scorching temperatures, especially against dry plants and dead leaves. 

Rubber also breaks down from the elements, causing chemicals to leak into the soil. 

Short-Term Pros of Rubber Mulch 

There is also some debate that rubber mulch can be more environmentally friendly because it lasts longer and doesn’t require cutting down trees. 

What are the disadvantages of rubber mulch? 

While it’s true that rubber mulch doesn’t require trees or deforestation, choosing it will have little impact on actually helping the environment as a whole. 

Secondly, the advantages that are supposed to make rubber mulch great are actually what make it worse. 

For example, although rubber mulch is sturdy and protects roots from superficial weathering, it can potentially block essential nutrients for the soil. This inorganic aspect of rubber halts sunlight and oxygen and denies roots of proper nutrition. 

Is rubber mulch safe for vegetable gardens? 

Because our world has become so saturated with pollutants and chemicals over the last one hundred years, many people assume that if chemicals did leak into their food source, it wouldn’t necessarily matter. 

While it’s true that pollutants have become a necessary evil of everyday life, exercise caution when it comes to rubber mulch. 

From Tire to Nugget 

Rubber mulch is made from the recycled rubber of discarded and defective car tires. 

Although they are transformed into new products, they retain the same chemicals, such as aluminum, cadmium, chromium, and selenium, with molybdenum and zinc being the most prominent dangers. 

Rubber mulch contains a few complex chemicals, such as

• 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) 
• Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Long-term exposure has been linked to the progression of health problems, such as

• Cataracs
• Kidney and liver damage
• Lung irritation 
• Coughing
• Choking 
• Shortness of breath 
• Neurological problems 

Unfortunately, rubber mulch is only regulated at the state and local levels, not by the federal EPA. 

To be extra safe, contact your local gardening store or call the manufacturing company of your mulch to see if it contains these chemicals. 

From Garden to Table

If you are a gardener, chances are that you value wholesome, high-quality food with the best nutrition for you and your family. 

Rubber mulch, however, does not maximize nutrition or quality. 

Instead, it dampens it. 

The danger with using rubber mulch for your vegetable garden is its mineral content as it breaks down. 

Although rubber mulch is considered non-porous, it still bleeds into the soil as it breaks down, letting additional chemicals such as aluminum, sulfur, zinc, and magnesium into the soil bed. 

While chemicals such as zinc are naturally found in plants, an excessive amount can lead to zinc overload and kill your vegetables. 

Is rubber mulch safe for flower beds? 

There is less risk in using rubber mulch for flower beds than for vegetable gardens because you will not be consuming your rose bushes, hopefully. 

People prefer to use rubber mulch with their flower beds because of its aesthetically pleasing qualities. 

Although a colorful rubber mulch flower bed would nicely complement your blooming lilacs and lilies, there’s a chance it could slow the growth of your plants. 

Remember that while some chemicals in rubber are also found in plants, such as zinc, a high level could prove more detrimental than helpful. 

Rubber is also known to have molybdenum, a plant restricting chemical. 

Rubber mulch is too thick

Rubber mulch performs poorly compared to airy, organic mulch. Aside from the chemical leakage, the thick mulch can suffocate flower roots. 

When planting flower beds, it’s best to lay out a natural two to four-inch mulch blanket. 

Is rubber mulch safe for animals?

Rubber mulch is safe to walk and tread on for children and animals at playgrounds and on walking paths. 

If you have a rubber mulch bed under your child’s backyard jungle gym, it shouldn’t be a problem for children or animals. 

However, it’s always a good idea to exercise caution with dogs, prone to excessively eating grass and other material. 

While dogs can swallow a few rubber mulch nuggets without incident, excessive eating of mulch could lead to digestive issues, so exercise caution with your furry friend. 

Is rubber mulch safe for playgrounds? 

Yes, rubber mulch is safe for playgrounds. 

Unlike flowerbeds, vegetable gardens, and fruitful landscapes, playgrounds are meant to be sturdy and able to take wear and tear. 

They also allow for easier sanitization, prevent injuries by cushioning falls, and protect children from other pests with their non-porous properties. 

There are options for non-toxic rubber mulch 

Consider these highly detoxified rubber mulches if you plan to craft a homemade playground for your child and want total peace of mind.

• Jellybean Rubber Mulch
• Play Safer by Rubber Cycle
• Best Rubber Mulch

What is the most environmentally friendly mulch?

For all my green friends, waste is an inevitable part of our society. 

You would be surprised by how profitable the waste business is. 

So much so that you can buy waste from a home-improvement store, grocery store, or gardening store. 

You can ask for organic waste, such as straw, peanut, pecan shells, chemical-free saw-dust, corn husks, and compost manure. 

How bad is rubber for the environment? 

While the effort to recycle is constantly being pushed and re-evaluated, it is not perfect. 

While not harmful on its own, the danger of rubber comes from how it is created and broken down. From pesticide use during cultivation to bleeding chemicals into your flower bed, it has been known to be detrimental to plants and aquatic life. 

Sources

• GWG Organics
• rubber mulch.com
• Illinois Department of Health
• Honest Consumer
• Gardening Know-How
• Grist Photo Credit