For Saul Maldonado, planting with his 7-year-old son, Nicholas, is not just a hobby-the family is putting roots in his Los Angeles community while changing the playground at Nicholas School.
“Children live indoors,” Maldonado told CBS News. “They want to be on the tablet. They want to stay on the phone because it is not safe for them to play outside and anywhere.”
Outdoor game is not always easy. According to the non -profit trust for public land, an estimated 28 million children in the US do not have easy access to parks or green locations.
“If you look around our community outside these walls, we really have a solid forest,” said Adriana Abich, who runs Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, where Nicholas is a student.
Until some time ago, the school playground was mostly AsphaltIn which there were shortcomings beyond its look. Blacketops Absorb and implicate heatAnd can reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Abich said that it was a drain on the students.
He said that the difference between the playground and the students coming back from his colleagues was worth noting.
“Tired, being extremely overheat,” said Abich.
The school participated with the trust for public land to rebuild and maintain a new outdoor location. Nola Eagleen Talmes, a program director of Trust for Public Land’s Los Angeles Parks for Peepal’s trust, showed CBS News how new grass and greenery helps to cool the playground to 40 degrees.
“Giving children a shadow to play is a significant health,” he said. “Beyond the heat, trees and plants reduce pollution. The more canopy trees we can provide, the more trees are actually cleaning air for children.”
Non -profit is on a mission to provide even more access to nature.
“For children, it helps them with their growth, ability to regulate emotions, imagine and their ability to conceive,” said Talmes.
Origin, 9, remember the old blacketop. She said that she does not like to play on it, but enjoys a new green space.
“It’s more natural, it’s more fun,” because there is grass, you can play, “he said.
Maldonado said that after now, “I want my community to be clean. I want the community to be safe. I want to see and ride a bike with my children, with my children in the park.”
