Sun sets playground in town

Thursday, 29 October 2009 13:25

Children in Trumbull have one more reason to go outside, play and get dirty, thanks to Wilton-based Sun Products Corporation’s donation of a sustainable products playground.

Sun products include all®, Wisk® and Snuggle®. The company’s Full Circle playground initiative uses plastic representing the equivalent of 50,000 laundry detergent containers recycled and saved from landfills.

On Friday, community volunteers joined Sun Products employees to join in the one-day community build installing the playground, assembling benches and picnic tables and spreading 16 tons of engineered wood mulch for safety surfacing at the Trumbull Nature and Arts Center.

“True sustainability aligns environmental stewardship and good citizenship resulting in sustained good for the greater community,” said Sun Products Senior Vice President Craig Slavtcheff.

Trumbull Economic Development Director Deborah Cox said the playground was a perfect example of community and corporate cooperation.

“This playground involved every area of the community, right down to the students who brought the #2 plastic recyclable bottles into school starting in September,” she said.

First Selectman Ray Baldwin said the playground was something the town could be proud of.

“The Full Circle Playground represents Trumbull’s proven record of accomplishment to be environmentally responsible and to provide resources for a thriving, healthy community,” he said. “Trumbull works hard every day to ensure a high quality of life for our citizens and it’s clear our citizens work hard with us. I am proud of the results I see today.”

Though based in Wilton, Sun is opening its North American Technology Center in Trumbull later this year.

As a part of the playground initiative, 3,400 Trumbull elementary school children are engaging in non-traditional learning activities through an in-school recycling program.

The recycling program invites children to bring laundry and household HDPE#2 plastic containers to school during the fall semester. The plastic collected will be transported to Chicago-based Tangent Technologies and extruded into sustainable lumber for additional site amenities at the Trumbull Nature and Arts Center and for future playgrounds.