A group of teenagers in Los Angeles has collected about 22,000 tennis and pickleball balls in a single day, keeping 2,675 pounds of them out of landfill in what they say is a world record.
Another Bounce was set up by teen environmentalists and student-athletes under Habits of Waste, a California nonprofit founded by Sheila Morovati.
The scale of the problem is easy to miss on the court. Most used balls end up in landfill, where they can take 400 years to decompose, and experts estimate only 1% to 5% of tennis and padel balls escape that fate.
“This record is a powerful visual reminder of the enormous amount of waste generated by sports. By diverting more than 20,000 balls from landfills, we’re showing what’s possible when we rethink the systems we’ve come to accept as the norm,” Morovati said, according to Good News Network.
The balls collected on Sept. 19 went to a specialist recycling facility, and through a partnership with Ridwell they will be turned into products including nursery pots and carpeting.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park was among those impressed.
“I am so impressed with the work that they’re doing to remove these balls from the waste stream because the impacts of the trash, the plastic and the pollution on our environment, especially on our sensitive marine habitat, is so impactful,” she said.
The drive has already gone beyond a single day. Malibu Mayor Bruce Silverstein has invited the group to help draft a city ordinance, the kind of rule Habits of Waste says is needed to make ball recycling routine.
