April Updates!

 From Jamie

Welcome! We are so glad to have you join us. There is some great energy at Hamilton and SOTA currently for removing the chips and possibly folding into a bigger playground project. There is also a new member from Northwoods who is working on playground updates. We're glad that you've joined us. Please see the message for newbies below.

Earth Fair Table and Samples - This Friday afternoon I will be getting test kits from the UWL students and staff members working with us through the Thriving Earth Exchange. Please let me know if you or someone you know wants to watch a few simple videos and take samples of rubber chips or other playground surfaces. The test kits can be turned in at Earth Fair. Or, you can pick them up at the Earth Fair and drop them off the following Sunday. Let me know if you're interested or know others who might be.

Grant submitted! We submitted an environmental justice government grant. Our submission felt solid due to the support provided from the city, school district, La Crosse Neighborhood, Inc, and PTO/Steering committees. It consisted of an 18 page narrative and 15 pages of supporting documents. Government grants get a lot of applications, so it is low probability. However, it was nice to build relationships and have woods ready to go for the future. 

 

If awarded, the grant will provide funding to remove rubber chips at seven schools, five playgrounds and replace them with a natural alternative. This will both reduce the heat island effect of the chips, the chemical exposure, and the run-off exposure. The budget also includes trees for neighborhoods near the schools to provide additional shade from our increasingly warming temperatures. Last, four temperature cameras will be purchased so that UWL students can work with SPACE to measure the temperature differences before and after the rubber chip removal and tree planting.

Toolkit - We are working on a toolkit by putting together the information we currently have regarding rubber chips. We are working with our Thriving Earth Exchange group (check out our great page). We are working with our Thriving Earth Exchange leader, Brendan Turley, who is keeping us on track and guiding us through this process. Thank you, Brendan. 

 

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To newcomers, thank you very much for joining the SPACE update email list. SPACE stands for Safer Playspaces and Community Environments, and we're working to make playspaces safer for humans and the environment. You can see some of our past work and projects on our blog site. Our current main focus is removing rubber chips from playgrounds due to the potential human and environmental health hazards. I try to send out bimonthly emails to keep everyone up-to-date with what is happening.

 

Typically, we don't formally meet, but can bring people together if there is a topic that we need to discuss. However, we try to meet up to meet with neighborhoods, PTOs or community leaders and do other projects that help get us closer to eliminating rubber chips. We also hope to gather in the future to celebrate playground transitions. After researching, we feel that the best replacement for the chips is either wood chips or Engineered Wood Fiber, which is wood that goes through an additional manufacturing to make it lay flatter (more ADA accessible) and prevents slivers. Feel free to reach out at any time for updates or ideas for the group.