tennis | 06880

“Tennis” and “sustainability” don’t often go together.

But in the US alone, 125 million tennis balls are thrown into landfills every year. That’s about 20,000 tons of rubber waste.

Serve2Sustain is a national student-run nonprofit organization dedicated to making tennis an environmentally friendly sport.

And it’s run by teenagers, right here in Westport.

Serve2Sustain chapters work with local tennis clubs to collect used balls. They are sent to a facility where machines separate materials for reuse. They then go to RecycleBalls and Laykold, which supplies tennis courts for events such as the US Open.

The companies grind the rubber into crumbs that are used to build tracks.

Student chapters raise money to cover the costs of sending balls to recycling centers, and collect balls from local tennis clubs.

Serve2Sustain was founded by Staples High School junior Shreyas Gorre and Ari Fayne, a sophomore in Chicago. Both avid tennis players, they met through the Wharton Global Youth Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where they studied entrepreneurship.

Shreyas’ Staples friends (and Wrecker tennis teammates) Lucas Ceballos-Cala and Noah Wolff are national vice presidents of operations and outreach, respectively.

Shreyas Gorre drops off used tennis balls at the UPS Store.

The Staples chapter partners with Intensity Racquet Club and Westchester Tennis Center in Port Chester.

Every month, members collect and ship used tennis balls.

Looking ahead, they hope to add more clubs (and players) to help. If you would like to help or ask questions, please email [email protected]. To donate, click here. For more information about Serve2Sustain’s national activities, click here.

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