Shanghai High School Junior Brings Eco Tennis to Asia

Ethan Yan, junior at Shanghai American School and his tennis ball recycling system.

High school junior, Ethan Yan, hails from Shanghai, China and attends the Shanghai American School (Puxi Campus). A competitive tennis player on his school team, he is equally committed to being eco-conscious and making a positive impact on his community.

Seeing the tennis balls continually discarded by his team and academies around him, Ethan found GreenTennis, an organization in the U.S. committed to engendering sustainability in tennis. He applied for their chapter ambassador program, but as most of their initiatives were not initially tailored to overseas chapters, especially in Asia, he brainstormed an innovative approach to his role.

Wanting to recycle tennis balls but dissuaded by the costly shipping costs to the U.S. (and the extreme carbon footprint of air shipping), Ethan partnered with box manufacturers to help design an original box collection system for GreenTennis where tennis balls can be collected and recycled. He is now working with rubber facilities to help have the materials from tennis balls recycled into other products like new tires, shoe soles, playgrounds, and the likes.

Such collection systems through companies like the U.S. brand RecycleBalls, Renewaball in the Netherlands, and Game On Recycling in Australia did not exist in Asia, making Ethan’s work all the more impactful.

Ethan and a coach at Shanghai YiJin Tennis Academy with his original box design.

His efforts are helping to spread eco-friendly tennis internationally, having already instituted bins across multiple facilities including schools, colleges, and clubs, including ​ULink College of Shanghai and Shanghai YiJin Tennis Academy.

Kudos to Ethan for taking the initiative and making a global impact to score a point for planet Earth!