Tennis Is Not Vegan!

on


What started as a joke led to the
revelation that tennis balls are not vegan.
Anyone who knows me knows that my chosen sport is tennis.  I've been playing socially and competitively for upwards of two decades.  I'm not a great player, but I can hold my own.  Plus, there are a ton of other rewards to playing tennis.  I've made most of my friends and attend a lot of social events through my various tennis circles.  The sport also helps me relieve stress, manage anxiety, improve my mood, and keep the competitive juices flowing by giving me a purpose and goals to work on.

But who knew that tennis is not vegan?!



When my friend and I did a Google search on
"vegan tennis", this article in VegNews gave
us the surprising news.


It all started as a joke over a vegan burrito and beer.  I was telling my friend that wine is not vegan (see my January 12 blog entry). Like me, he was shocked.  He jokingly quipped, "next thing you know, we'll find out that tennis isn't vegan".

So we looked it up. And it's not!

But it can be.  Thank goodness!

The main culprit are the tennis balls.  That fuzzy yellow felt that I've held in my hands a zillion times is often made out of animal-derived wool.  I already knew that gut strings aren't vegan (seems obvious, seeing as their called "gut strings"), so I've been avoiding those for years.  Other needed equipment for tennis - the grips, shoes, clothing, dampeners, tennis bag - are almost universally synthetic at this point, so I'm ok there too.  But I had never considered the balls.

But like I say, it's all about intention, not perfection.  I can't change the past, but I can adjust moving forward.

Thankfully, there's a great new resource for finding vegan tennis gear.  It's a site called Sheeps - according to their website, they offer "cruelty free tennis gear".  I found a few types of vegan tennis balls on their site, which admittedly are more expensive that the ones most of my friends buy at Costco, but to me it's totally worth it.  You can't purchase directly through Sheeps, but here are three outlets for vegan tennis balls:


Wilson Grand Slam
wilson.com
$59.99 (case of 24)



Wilson Tour Comp
amazon.com
currently sold out


Babolat First
tennisnuts.com
$71.40 (case of 24)




Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Learn more about my life by following me on Instagram: my.plant.based.adventures & tennistodd

Comments

  1. Time to be wildJanuary 21, 2020 at 2:41 AM

    We also have a plastics problem that can be as damaging to our environment as eating meat. I wonder if the tennis balls are not animal hair are they made with plastic. What happens to the tennis balls after use? I see a lot in the trash. A solution would be to use the balls over and over and then have a use for them afterwards. I am sure there is a solution. It is also cruel to animals the amount of plastic that is in the ocean. We can work together to eliminate fossil fuel products and become more aware of what we eat. Thanks for the awareness Todd. It is an enlightening article.

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    Replies
    1. Intention, Not PerfectionJanuary 21, 2020 at 5:46 AM

      I’ve thought the same thing many times. Thank goodness our Tennis Director at Balboa Tennis Club sends balls to be recycled. Of course that comes with its own fossil fuel use, as the balls have to be shipped across the country. But I suppose, for now, that’s better than the alternative of the balls ending up in the landfill. This raises two challenges for the new breed of engineers: design a non-petroleum based tennis ball, and design transportation systems that rely on renewable energy.

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