Pacific Palisades Teens Launch Tennis Ball Recycling Record Twelve high school students who first came together while helping rebuild their community after the devastating Palisades Fire have set their sights on a new mission: breaking a world record to combat the estimated 500 million tennis and pickleballs dumped into landfills each year. The teens, who form the newly launched Junior Board of Habits of Waste, announced their campaign called Another Bounce. The initiative aims to collect the most tennis and pickleballs ever gathered for recycling, culminating in an Earth Month collection event on April 19. "We play the sport, we see the waste, and we aren't waiting for adults to fix it," the students said in a collective statement. Among the board members is Ford Casady, currently ranked the No. 1 junior pickleball player nationally in the under-18 division. He and his brother Boone form the top-ranked junior doubles team in the country. Several other board members are varsity athletes. The scope of the waste problem is staggering. Industry estimates indicate that 500 million pickleballs are produced annually, while another 330 million to 400 million tennis balls enter the market each year. Yet only about 1 percent of tennis balls are ever recycled, according to United Nations Regional Information Centre data. Stanford researchers have found that 125 million tennis balls are dumped into U.S. landfills annually, and global estimates suggest 95 percent of all balls produced are either incinerated or sent to landfills. Sheila Morovati, founder of Habits of Waste and mother of board member Leo Morovati, said the students represent the kind of leadership needed to address environmental challenges.#junior_board_of_habits_of_waste #sheila_morovati #pacific_palisades #ford_casady #habits_of_waste
Got a used tennis or pickleball? These LA-area teens want to recycle them for a world record attempt A group of Los Angeles County high school students is trying to set a world record by collecting thousands of tennis balls and pickleballs for recycling — and they want your help. The initiative, called “Another Bounce,” is led by a dozen students from the Junior Board of Habits of Waste, a Brentwood-based nonprofit focused on reducing waste and combating climate change. The teens aim to keep recreational equipment out of landfills by gathering used balls for proper disposal. According to the organization, an estimated 500 million tennis and pickleballs are discarded globally each year, with 125 million ending up in U.S. landfills annually. Max Ehrman, a 15-year-old Brentwood School student and junior board member, emphasized the scale of the problem. “There’s so much waste, and nobody really pays as much attention to it as they should,” he said. The initiative seeks to involve the sports community in sustainability efforts, particularly as pickleball continues to grow in popularity across America. The students are collecting used balls within a 30-mile radius of Pacific Palisades and accepting mailed donations to a Santa Monica warehouse. They are also working with ball manufacturers and local officials to improve recycling systems. The campaign plans to host a community collection event on April 19 and aims to gather enough donations by Earth Day on April 22. The idea for “Another Bounce” originated when students at Sheila Morovati’s son’s school noticed how many balls were tossed into trash after minimal use.#los_angeles_county #junior_board_of_habits_of_waste #brentwood_school #sheila_morovati #pacific_palisades
