Notre Dame Tennis: Sustainable Practices with the Green Tennis Machine
3 mins
In collegiate tennis, a fresh can of tennis balls is used every set, amounting to approximately 12-18 cans per match. With each can costing around $4 and containing three balls, that’s $72 and 51 balls per match. For a busy season, the costs and resource use add up quickly. Coach Bobby Bayliss, Manager of Notre Dame Tennis Facilities, saw an opportunity to cut costs and reduce waste. His solution: the Green Tennis Machine (GTM).The GTM restores used tennis balls by re-pressurizing them in a chamber filled with inert, non-flammable gases, reviving their bounce and extending their playable life. This machine can recondition up to 500 balls at a time, helping Notre Dame’s tennis teams reduce their reliance on new balls. Using the GTM around 20 times each year, Notre Dame’s teams are diverting an estimated 10,000 tennis balls from landfills annually. Tournaments held at Notre Dame also leave behind used balls, which Coach Bayliss repurposes for team use.
Notre Dame Tennis: Sustainable Practices with the Green Tennis Machine
When tennis balls can no longer be revived, Coach Bayliss donates them to local nursing homes, where they’re repurposed as soft “wheels” on walkers. Other charities also benefit from the recycled balls, giving them a second life beyond the grass vs clay vs hard court.
Coach Bayliss’s efforts extend to recycling materials from tennis ball cans as well. The metal seal rings are collected, weighed, and recycled, with proceeds donated to the Ronald McDonald Rooms at Memorial Hospital.
Through the GTM and creative recycling practices, Notre Dame Tennis is reducing its environmental footprint and supporting the community, demonstrating that sustainability and sports can go hand in hand.
