The Greening of Tennis

Retour Tennis Update www.retourtennis.com By Rich Neher

Bill Dermody Founder and President, Retour Tennis "I started Retour Tennis to make the recycling of used tennis balls easy so it could become commonplace in America. This can be done- tennis players want to do it, and the systems are in place. In five years it will seem odd to come off a tennis court and not have a convenient place to put your unwanted balls- just like you have one today for your bottles and cans. France has a national program for recycling tennis balls; there is no reason we cannot do the same here in the US. We realized that having a cconvenient courtside collection is the key to successful recycling, but it did not exist. So,we designed the AD-IN Bin to be the perfect tool to do that. It is unique in the industry - and the compelling face of tennis ball recycling in America. Visit our website to find out why, how and where."

UPDATE

Bill Dermody reports that he is getting good reception from club owners, club managers and tennis directors all over the country. Also from Parks & Rec Departments everywhere. His analysis from feedback regarding the benefits of the AD-IN BIN for clubs and public facilities:

• The better (premier) collection bin – the clients understand the professional look. If you take pride in your club, this should be your collection bin!
• Sustainability Messaging to Members – The bin provides a great “face” of the mutual commitment that club and members make.
• More balls get contributed – The company has testimony to this, and it makes sense. This benefit has appeal to ownership, management and staff.

The company obtained a lot of new clients, such as

• Calabasas Swim & Tennis (Calabasas, California, 9 bins)
• Balboa Tennis Club (San Diego, California, 2 bins)
• Seascape Sports Club (Santa Cruz area)
• Westside Tennis Tennis & Fitness (Houston, Texas, 20 bins)

Colleen Ferrell Club Director, Balboa Tennis Club, San Diego  "The AD-IN BIN has been a great addition to the Balboa Tennis Club for collecting used balls for our pro-carts and for recycling. The exciting part is: More people are now donating tennis balls on a regular basis."

SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT

Bill Dermody says, "We want to encourage clubs to change their tennis ball collection activities from “providing it” to “promoting it”. In other words, we just don’t have a bin in the shop for you to drop old balls off. What we encourage club owners and managers to do is a Sustainability Commitment, which means:

• We promote it with members to build enthusiasm; we are proactive, rather than reactive.
• We want all their used balls to be contributed courtside (“in the bin, not in the bag”).
• We communicate to members what happens to all the balls, and we ensure that any not being reused in the community are being ground up into new materails.
• We communicate our numbers collected.