RECYCLING TENNIS BALLS ON SALT SPRING

As most of you know, we have been sending our used balls for recycling for 4 years now.  Originally, they went to a company called reBounce It in Arkansas, and then after they stopped the program, I found a place in Vermont called Recycle Balls.  This non-profit company has been very successful. They have collected over 5,000,000 balls since 2017.

Just recently they opened a Toronto office to make it easier for Canadian tennis clubs to sign up.  Salt Spring Tennis Association is now a member!

https://recycleballs.ca/

They have shipped lovely green and yellow boxes to us which I will set up in the blue and green room.  They have a tennis-ball sized hole in the top. Because I can’t open the boxes once full, it’s really important that nothing else goes in there!

 The plastic sleeves and lids need to be handled differently.  Ideally the metal rim should be cut off and recycled with metals at the dump. The tubes and lids can go in plastics. If someone doesn’t have access to these services, I’ll leave a blue bin beside the green box for your tubes.

Over 125,000,000 tennis balls go into landfill each year, and take 400 years to decompose!  At Recycle Balls, they defuzz the balls, grind up the rubber and turn it into tennis courts and horse stable flooring.  In the future, they hope to produce clothing and running shoes as well.

For just $3 per member per year, we can do our bit to decrease waste from the sport we love.  (Of course, we could do even better if we all used the Wilson Triniti unpressurized balls that last much longer!)

Thanks for your cooperation and support!

Mary Richardson