Serving Up Sustainability: How Santa Rosa is Helping to Tackle Tennis Ball Waste

Did you know that tennis balls can take over 400 years to decompose? It's a shocking statistic that highlights a major environmental problem. Nationwide, approximately 125 million used tennis balls—amounting to 20,000 metric tons of methane-producing, near non-decomposable rubber waste—end up in America's landfills every year. This isn't a problem that represents the sport in 2021, and U.S. tennis players want to be a part of the solution.

The good news is that a simple, universal solution exists, and it's making a real difference with the help of passionate individuals right here in our community.

RecycleBalls.org: A Simple Solution to a Global Problem

RecycleBalls.org has created a growing network to collect and reuse tennis balls, promoting a scalable collection solution and spreading the word. The process is incredibly simple:

Step 1: The organization builds a growing network of partners who promote scalable collection solutions and help spread the word.

Step 2: Convenient bins are placed courtside, making it easy for players to recycle their balls. Tennis players universally love this easy solution.

Step 3: Bins are shipped to the facility in Vermont using prepaid UPS shipping labels.

Step 4: At the facility, some balls are ground up into a material called "Green Gold" after separating the felt from the rubber. Other balls are sold and reused as dog balls.

Step 5: This "Green Gold" is then used to construct new tennis courts, horse footing, and with ongoing research and development, hopefully a variety of other green products in the future.

Coach Corky: A Local Champion for the Cause

Here in Santa Rosa, we're fortunate to have local tennis enthusiast Coach Corky representing this important initiative. His enthusiasm for RecycleBalls is fueled by his passion for educating players on how they can make a real difference in improving our planet. Through his efforts, our local tennis community can be part of this vital effort to change habits and stop trashing tennis balls.

Together, with the help of dedicated individuals like Coach Corky and the simple, effective solution provided by RecycleBalls.org, we can serve up a greener future for our sport and our planet.