Besides the sport played on the grass at Wimbledon, tennis is
not typically considered a “green” sport. Most matches are
played on hard asphalt courts, leading to the short lifespan of
tennis balls that are thrown away. Additionally, players drive
to local courts, and often bring single-use water bottles for
refreshment. Most of these bottles and tennis-ball cans are
deposited in courtside trash bins, ultimately taking their place
next to 27 billion other non-recycled water bottles that ended
up in landfills in 2010. However, one local, non-profit,
community tennis association is taking a creative approach to
encourage tennis players to be more environmentally friendly. In
2009, Virginia’s Arlington County Tennis Association (ACTA)
created the Eco-Challenge to promote environmental awareness as
an adjunct competition to its already-popular singles ladder.
The association’s website asks players to record environmental-
impact behaviors after each match. The results are not only
publicly displayed with the actua