Across the United States, over 125 million tennis balls are thrown away each year, resulting in upwards of 20,000 metric tons of rubber waste (RecycleBalls). Methane-producing and almost impossible to decompose, this waste represents a serious environmental issue. Noting how “often tennis balls are tossed in the trash,” Carter Leidy ‘24 and Reid Farrington ‘24 led the initiative towards making Lawrenceville tennis more sustainable starting last spring. In order to “help combat the pollution” that results from the hundreds of thousands of tennis balls thrown away each year, Leidy and Farrington partnered with Recycle Balls and set up stations around the courts.
These convenient recycling containers are directly in line with The Lawrenceville School’s sustainability mission, and represent a connection between Leidy and Farrington’s passion for the sport and their care for sustainability. In addition, they wanted to teach “the younger members of the team and our broader community” in order to broaden the effects of the initiative. This year, the tennis team has continued to recycle and ship balls to RecycleBalls, a small part of the larger mission to reduce tennis ball-caused pollution. Because tennis balls take at least 400 years to decompose, it is important for Lawrenceville to continue the project led by Leidy and Farrington. As stated on their website, RecycleBalls is dedicated to saving the planet “one ball at a time” (RecycleBalls).
Source:
https://www.recycleballs.org/solution/
