Taking Initiative: How to keep the Playgrounds Clean?

Summary: The dirt stained, weather beaten play structures can be commonly observed in our cities. Every time you drive past a playground with less-than-appropriate playing gear, you can’t help but wonder: who’s going to check it? Isn’t this the responsibility of our parks and recreation department? It is, but you cannot just sit around and wait for them to respond to your calls and complaints. It’s time to take the initiative.

The ‘Clean Parks’ Project

So what if your parks and recreation department doesn’t care about the filthy parks, you can always put together your own little project for cleaning up your neighboring parks. And you never know, it can actually be fun. So how do you do that? All you have to do is find the time to make this happen. Playground cleanup can take time, so make sure that you have a couple of weekends free. You do not necessarily have to do this alone; you can involve your kids and neighbors in the project and a have a fun-oriented activity for the weekend. Here is a list of things that you can do:

• First of all decide about the playground that you wish to clean. Depending on the type of help you have for the project, you can choose to clean different parks. If you can get a large number of volunteers, then you can get a lot of work done.
• You will need to approach your local government to make sure that your local council will help you with the removal of the trash.There is a pretty good chance that your local city council will assist you with the various park cleaning activities, including waste disposal. However,if due to tight budget, the council fails to provide the needed assistance, you can always work out your own strategy for waste disposal. The most effective way to dispose waste is the use of recycling containers.
• Plan for waste reduction and recycling. If you cannot get your hands on the recycling containers, arrange for the disposable plastic bags.
• Publicize your project to get more volunteers. If your community has a neighborhood newsletter, publish the park cleanup news in advance.
• If your park has a rusty, old outdoor playground equipment, make sure that you have the right supplies for the cleanup.
• Advise your neighbors or volunteers to bring their safety gear, such as gloves and goggles, for the cleanup process.
• If it’s cold, you might want to arrange for coffee, tea and hot chocolate. If it’s hot, you might need water coolers and disposable cups. You do not have to do this all on your own; ask the volunteers to pitch in.
• Determine what kind of cleaning equipment you will need and ask your volunteers to help you with the equipment. Your home cleaning supplies and gardening tools can be of great assistance. You can ask the volunteers to bring some tools along so there is a less need for borrowing them. In addition, understand what type of commercial playground equipment your park has and bring the tools accordingly.
• If You wish to trim the grass and shrubbery, you will need to have special gardening tools such as a lawn mower. In addition, for hard core gardening work, bring your boots and hat and ask your volunteers to bring their gardening gear as well.

The above-mentioned steps can help you implement your park cleanup project successfully. So grab a spade and get to work!