Palisades Teens Chase World Record to Recycle Tennis Balls

A group of high school students in Pacific Palisades isn't waiting for adults to solve the sports waste crisis. They're taking it on themselves, one tennis ball at a time.

Twelve teens who originally bonded while helping rebuild their community after the Palisades Fire have launched Another Bounce, a campaign to collect more tennis and pickleballs for recycling than anyone in history. Their Earth Month collection event happens April 19.

The numbers behind their mission are staggering. An estimated 500 million tennis and pickleballs end up in landfills every year, yet only 1 percent of tennis balls ever get recycled. Stanford researchers found that 125 million tennis balls are dumped into U.S. landfills annually alone.

"We play the sport, we see the waste, and we aren't waiting for adults to fix it," the students said in a joint statement.

Among the group is Ford Casady, currently ranked the number one junior pickleball player nationally in the under-18 division. He and his brother Boone are the top-ranked junior doubles team in the country, and several other board members play varsity sports.

But these teens aren't just collecting balls. They're managing sponsorships, tracking data, and speaking at city council meetings across Beverly Hills, Burbank, Santa Monica, Malibu and Los Angeles. They're pushing for ordinances requiring parks, schools and private clubs to recycle their sports equipment.

They've also launched a public email campaign targeting major manufacturers like Wilson, Penn, Franklin, Dunlop and Selkirk. The ask is simple: create nationwide take-back programs and recycle your own products into new gear.

"Our ultimate goal is true circularity," said Sheila Morovati, founder of Habits of Waste and mother of board member Leo Morovati. "We are calling on industry giants to step up and take full responsibility for recycling their own products."

The Ripple Effect

This initiative builds on proven success. Habits of Waste previously spearheaded Malibu's plastic straw and cutlery ban and convinced major food delivery apps to change their default settings. That advocacy contributed to California passing State Bill AB 1276, which now protects the entire state.

The Junior Board includes Dara Afshar, Max Ehrman, Rummy Goodyear, Jesse King, Miller Levin, Leo Mahmoodzadegan, Luc Montalba, Milan Ramesh and Vivienne Shiao. Together, they're proving that youth leadership can drive systemic change.

Los Angeles-area players and clubs can schedule pickups with student volunteers, and the campaign accepts shipped donations from across the country within a 30-mile radius of Pacific Palisades. Organizations like Ridwell and RecycleBalls will shred and pelletize the balls into new products.

The world record attempt is just the beginning of what these teens envision as an ongoing program that outlasts Earth Month.