Tennis ball wasteland? Game grapples with a fuzzy yellow recycling problem
Tennis has a fuzzy yellow problem most players don’t think about when they open can after can of fresh balls, or when umpires at U.S. Open matches make their frequent requests for “new balls please.”
Because tennis balls are extremely hard to recycle and the industry has yet to develop a ball to make that easier, nearly all of the 330 million balls made worldwide each year eventually get chucked in the garbage, with most ending up in landfills, where they can take more than 400 years to decompose. It’s a situation highlighted by Grand Slam events like Flushing Meadows, which will go through nearly 100,000 balls over the course of the tournament.
That harsh reality in an age of heightened environmental awareness has sent ball makers, recyclers and the game’s worldwide governing body scrambling for solutions, and spurred sustainability activists to sound the alarm in online posts that pose the question: Are tennis balls a disaster for the planet?
PSA standard ("real") tennis balls are bad for dogs, especially their teeth.. https://sierraveterinary.com/2022/03/29/the-dangers-of-tennis-balls/
Interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks.
I wonder if raquette balls (non-fuzzy ….uhm… blue…. Er… balls…) are bad for the teeth- or for small dogs, squash balls (they’re smaller.) both are just hollow shells of rubber.
There might be a choking hazard depending on how they break up? A vet would be able to tell you more definitely.
Annecdotally, my old dog loved racquet balls, and despite being a prodigious toy destroyer, never managed to destroy one. My current dog has a ball that's similar to a racquet ball in construction and feels like the same kind of rubber, and it's also holding up fine, although it's not exactly her favorite ball.
They are a bit smaller than a tennis ball, so depending on the size of your dog and how they play with them they could be a choking/swallowing hazard in that respect, but thats not something that's ever been a major concern with my dogs.
They don’t really break up. At least, I’ve not seen a dog do that to them in the same way they destroy the fuzzy ones. Also they keep the bounce longer
I have a golden doodle and he will destroy almost any toy in a few minutes. The only exception is those solid rubbery dog toys, which take him several hours to start chipping away at.
They're probably fine but if you are really concerned, call a local veterinarian office and ask.