Science Corner - Recycling Tennis Balls

Kristie Erhardt • August 9, 2024

Did you know that about 125 million used tennis balls end their lives in landfills throughout the United States each year? That equals approximately 20,000 metric tons of rubber waste and each ball can take up to 400 years to decompose.

 

One major tournament, such as Wimbledon, can go through as many as 54,000 balls by the time the 14-day tournament concludes. This is partly because each ball is replaced at frequent intervals during matches. Impact from the racket and the surface of the court causes the felt to get worn and the balls to lose pressure which makes them inconsistent and undesirable. This is why tennis balls don’t have a very long lifespan.

 

Tennis was first introduced to the United States around 1814. The first pressurized ball made an appearance around 1920 and has remained basically unchanged. Serious and maybe not so serious tennis players typically open a fresh can of balls every time they play. Professional tournaments have strict requirements, and the best balls are made from only virgin rubber. Some other balls of lesser quality may contain a portion of recycled rubber. Most of the balls are manufactured in China or Thailand and have long shipping journeys to their final destinations.

 

There are ways to repurpose old tennis balls around the house and other places. One of the most common ways is the ole’ tennis ball hanging from a string to act as a parking guide in the garage or on the legs of furniture to keep it from squeaking and scratching on the floor - I think every one of my daughter’s elementary school teachers employed retired tennis balls to keep their classrooms free of the harrowing metal chair-on-the-tile-floor squelch. There are some other incredibly thoughtful and handy uses for decommissioned tennis balls.

 

You can use them for those really stubborn, stuck-on jar lids. Simply cut a tennis ball in half and put it over the lid to grip and loosen it. You can also use this technique to unscrew a broken light bulb from its base. If you’re refinishing or painting furniture, you can wrap sandpaper around a used tennis ball to help reach those smaller curved areas where your whole hand may not fit. You can cut a slit in a ball and slide it on the end of a broom to use as a scuff remover from a wood or tile floor without having to get on your hands and knees. You can cut slits on opposite sides of the ball and stuff the length of your phone charger or computer cables inside rather than having them dangle behind your desk. You can also use them to hide emergency money in plain sight. Maybe you need a quick $5 bill in case the ice cream man comes by; you can cut a slit in the ball, tuck your snack cash inside and stow it inside your car or gym bag. You can also toss a couple of used tennis balls in your pool to help absorb body oils and sunscreen from the surface of the water. It’ll keep the pool cleaner longer, but they do need to be replaced often. You can also protect an outdoor padlock by cutting a large slit in the ball and placing it around the lock to keep it from getting muddy or frozen. They also make great dryer balls to help soften and fluff clothes and to help separate them to keep them from becoming a tangled, damp, musty wad. Just make sure that they’re color-fast or wrap them in foil first. Used tennis balls also make great pillow fluffers. Simply throw them in the dryer with your pillows and let them spin and fluff. You can even add a couple of drops of essential oils to the felt to add freshness. In climates that get cold enough to freeze the surface of water, tossing a tennis ball in your birdbath will keep the water open and available for wildlife to drink. The thought is that wind will push the ball around and break up the thin crust of ice that is trying to form.

 

The reuse project that is definitely closest to my heart is “no trash dog balls”. You can purchase them on ebay or simply ask your friends for their out of commission tennis balls. You can either enjoy them with your own furry friend or donate them to an animal shelter or rescue for the friends in their care to enjoy over and over. You can purchase big boxes of used tennis balls for cheap and dogs don’t care if they’re dirty, flat or have worn felt!

 

Last but certainly not least (other than maybe in size) in the repurposing line up is the upcycling of used tennis balls to provide winter homes for the Eurasian harvest mouse. This teeny tiny mouse is native to Europe and Asia and typically nests in grain crop fields, reeds or other tall vegetation. Adults weigh a mere four grams (about the weight of a nickel). They usually weave shredded vegetation into a small, hollow ball attached to a stem above water. Although the tiny mouse also eats the grain, they help keep pest populations down but modern farming techniques have impacted their habitat. Recently European conservationists have found that tennis balls with a small hole cut in them and attached to a stick about a meter above the ground make a safe, waterproof and welcome winter home for them. 

 

Even if you engage every single one of the ideas listed above, that still leaves approximately 124,999,873 balls that need a new purpose. As a result of the glut of used balls, there are a couple of relatively new companies that have developed brilliant new technology to not only repressurize used balls (some machines can do it in bulk) so they can be reused and used longer but they have also refined some ways to create entirely new products using old tennis balls. Tennis balls have historically been very difficult to recycle because the felt is glued so tightly to the rubber core. These companies have developed ways to efficiently “defelt” them and have also developed entirely new ways to recycle and repurpose expired tennis balls. Recycleballs.org https://www.recycleballs.org/ and Rebounces.com https://rebounces.com/about-us/recycle-tennis-balls/ both place collection bins at tennis clubs and gyms for people to easily dispose of their used balls without putting them in the trash. The bins come with return postage so sending them to the recycling companies is easy and free to the facility. Some of the balls collected are repressurized right there on site for reuse and those that are not mailed to the company to be refined into new products. One of the new products can be used for the surface of playgrounds or as equestrian arena footing. Whole tennis balls, felt and all, are ground up and spread around the area. The material helps keep moisture in the soil which keeps dust down and helps reduce compaction. Recycled tennis balls are also being used to develop a new alternative to stucco. The product is more durable than traditional stucco, it will not crack and comes in any color without painting. Ground up tennis balls are also being transformed into pebbles to be used as a ground cover and mulch in landscaping. And, perhaps it’s kismet but used tennis balls are being upcycled and reused in brand-new tennis courts. The surface exhibits more shock absorption than some traditional courts and is much more durable. Each newly constructed court uses up to 10,000 recycled tennis balls.

 

I’m not sure what method the two companies use to remove the felt from old tennis balls but I’d be happy to loan them my dog; he can rip the felt off of any tennis ball with breakneck speed.

RECENT ARTICLES

Congratulations, Nate!

March 5, 2026
Tuleyome is pleased to announce that Nate Lillge has been promoted to Program Director where he will oversee Tuleyome’s land conservation and stewardship program and our adventures, outreach and education program.  Nate joined Tuleyome ten years ago. A talented manager with a passion for the outdoors and sharing it with others, Nate has been key to Tuleyome’s successes, from the design, building and maintenance of some of our region’s iconic trails to the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument with the addition of Molok Luyuk. Nate is a true partner to all, dedicated to this place and its communities, an authority on the region, and a true champion of the land. Nate has spent his career dedicated to the experience and stewardship of place. Fun, knowledgeable, dedicated and brilliant, Tuleyome welcomes our new Program Director, Nate Lillge.

Policy Corner: Congress Is Using a Little-Known Law to Remove Your Voice from Public Land Management

By Bryan Pride • March 5, 2026
Just months after we rejected the notion of selling off our public lands, some in Congress are at it again. This time, the attack is more calculated; bypassing the communities, tribal nations, and local stakeholders who spent years shaping how our public lands are managed. Whether you hunt, fish, farm, hike, or simply love the outdoors, Congress is now overriding your voice and threatening the legal foundation that protects your access to these lands. What is the Congressional Review Act? The Congressional Review Act (CRA) was passed in 1996. It required that all federal agency “rules” be submitted to Congress and gave Congress 60 days to pass legislation to disapprove the rule. If Congress takes no action, the rule goes into effect. For nearly 30 years, the CRA was used sparingly, only used to review federal regulations. But Congress has now started using the CRA in a new and unprecedented way: to overturn Bureau of Land Management Resource Management Plans (RMPs) and National Monument Management Plans ; the blueprints that guide how our public lands are managed and protected. Resource Management Plans (RMPs) and National Monument Management Plans aren’t just paperwork. They are the result of years of public engagement that include tribal consultation, community input and scientific analysis that determine how millions of acres of public land are used and protected. These plans govern everything from recreation use and grazing permits to oil and gas leases, conservation designations, and wildfire management. Why this is everyone’s problem For decades, neither BLM nor Congress considered these plans to be “rules” subject to congressional review. They were understood as long-term planning documents: overarching guidance for how agencies managed land, embracing principles appropriate to the particular lands and their characteristics. Land management plans have never, in the 50 years we’ve been preparing and following them, been considered rules. That is, not until this Congress. Since October 2025, Congress has rescinded five BLM management plans covering tens of millions of acres in Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota and overturned a decision that protected the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas leasing. By treating these plans as “rules” subject to the CRA, Congress has called into question the legal validity of every management plan finalized since 1996. At threat are 123 BLM plans and 176 active Forest Service plans covering over 166 million acres, 14 of them are in California, including those governing Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and other lands in the region An Attack on One Monument is an Attack on All The CRA threat has now reached our National Monuments. As of February 26, 2026, Senator Mike Lee formally began the process of fast-tracking the destruction of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan in Utah, the first time the CRA has ever been applied to a National Monument. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan took years to develop. BLM engaged in extensive government-to-government consultation with tribal nations who have lived in and around the monument since time immemorial; nations whose ancestral cultural sites are woven throughout the monument’s 1.9 million acres. Local governments, ranchers, outfitters, scientists, conservationists, and community members all had a seat at the table. The result is a plan that balances wildlife protection, outdoor access, dark night skies, grazing, and cultural preservation, reflecting the full breadth of what makes Grand Staircase-Escalante, known as the “Science Monument”, so remarkable. What makes the decision particularly alarming is the irreversibility. Once Congress rescinds a management plan under the CRA, BLM is barred from issuing another plan that is “substantially the same.” without another act of Congress. Years of tribal consultation, community collaboration, and scientific analysis cannot simply be redone, and the protections that came from that work cannot be easily restored. The monument’s geology, fossils, wildlife habitat, grazing access, and cultural resources would all be left in a management vacuum, vulnerable to illegal vehicle use, landscape-level clearcutting of native pinyon-juniper forests, and unchecked extractive activities. This is the pattern. What happens in Utah, Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota today sets the precedent for what can happen at Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and every other monument. Once Congress establishes that Monument Management Plans are fair game to be overridden through congressional review, no monument, no matter how beloved, no matter how many years of work went into its protection is truly safe. An attack on one monument is an attack on all of them. What Tuleyome is doing about it We’re working with a nationwide coalition to prevent further misuse of the CRA. We are supporting legislation clarifying that land management plans are not subject to the CRA. We are ensuring that our elected officials know how much the public supports public lands and wants them protected. We are committed to fighting back, working alongside community members, tribal nations, and coalition partners to keep our public lands in public hands. We will continue to monitor developments and keep you informed. What you can do about it. Contact your representatives and let them know that public lands belong to all of us, and decisions about how they are managed should stay rooted in our communities, not decided in Washington D.C. Ask them to vote against resolutions that use the CRA to roll back our resource management or monument management plans. Monitor Tuleyome’s social media to stay up to date on fast moving issues and see how you can help. Connect with efforts to protect the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan. Stay tuned. We’ll let you know what’s happening and how you can make a difference.

Monumental Questions - Monumental Vegetable?

By Kristie Ehrhardt • March 5, 2026
Yes, indeed! Although I do not advocate for eating things you find in nature, there is one plant in particular that is both lovely to look at and to nosh on. As you may have heard, we here at Tuleyome are beginning to schedule wildflower tours of our very own “deep home place”, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (Monument). One of the plants that is a reliable observation, easily identifiable and flowering right now as we speak is miner’s lettuce! I must first say please do not harvest miner’s lettuce from the Monument as it is not only delightful for us to look at, it is an important food source for caterpillars and butterflies. Miner’s lettuce ( Claytonia perfoliata ) belongs to the Purslane family - Montiaceae. Claytonia is one of 17 genera and 230 known species that range from small, herbaceous plants to woody shrubs. Many of the genera of Montiaceae are edible and that does include miner’s lettuce. Miner’s lettuce is native to western North America from Mexico to as far north as British Columbia. Apparently European explorers liked it so much that they carried it back to Europe with them in the 18th century and cultivated it at the Kew Botanical Gardens in London, It has since naturalized throughout the natural landscape. Utilized by Native Americans for generations, miner’s lettuce is a valuable source of vitamins and minerals. During the gold rush, settlers ate it to prevent scurvy, hence the clever common name. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, a mere 100 grams of miner’s lettuce, about the size of a dinner plate, contains about 35% of your recommended daily amount of vitamin C, 22% of vitamin A and about ten percent of the iron required daily. It also contains protein and the entire plant, with the exception of the roots, is edible, even the itty bitty flowers. Young stems are tender and sweet while the succulent leaves have a bright, fresh taste and seem to melt in your mouth. Strangely enough, we found out last weekend that domestic goats do not care for it; apparently chewing on the rope holding the fence panels together was more tantalizing. It’s also been noted that deer tend to ignore it as well. Entire pages have been dedicated to the plant lauding it for its yumminess in salads, sandwiches and even sushi. Although it is delicious raw, personal experience speaking here, with a very light salad dressing or even just a splash of lemon juice; it can also be cooked as used as you would spinach. However, like spinach, the plant can contain toxic amounts of sodium oxalate which may potentially promote kidney stones among other terrible things. Miner’s lettuce is common in the spring and can usually be found in a moist, shady environment. After a good rain it may pop up in sunny areas but the best stands are usually in well-shaded, cool areas. As the temperatures rise, the plants in the sunny areas begin to dry up and turn blush pink to a deep red. Plants in dryer locations have a bitter taste. It is easy to identify with its basal rosette, many long petioles and leaves that wrap completely around the stem looking like saucers or little lily pads. In young plants these leaves will be bright green and heart-shaped but as the plants mature, they become more rounded or cup-shaped. Mature plants may also have tiny, dainty white to light pink flowers dangling from the center of the saucer-shaped leaf. The plant usually flowers from February to May or even June if conditions are right. While I most definitely do not promote harvesting plants in native or natural ecosystems, miner’s lettuce can easily be cultivated in your own backyard! The best flavor comes from a cool, shady, damp location so plan for an early crop. But, it can also tolerate full sun if the soil remains good and moist. Miner’s lettuce also seems to favor occasional minor ground disturbance and growing it as a seasonal ground cover can be pleasing to the eye and the tummy! Miner’s lettuce can be planted in late summer to early fall in mild climates and harvested all winter. It can also be sown in the spring and with apple water be harvested until the summer heat arrives. The plants can be cut and allowed to regrow several times a season as long as they are eventually allowed to finally flower and set seed as they are an annual species and reproduce by seed. Miner’s lettuce can be used in any recipe that calls for fresh, steamed or cooked greens. Eat your vegetables! Next time you’re hiking in our favorite Monument (you know which one!) keep an eye out for miner’s lettuce and give it a nod. You might find it in several of the habitat types there including chaparral, oak woodlands, riparian and maybe even a parking lot!