Window to the World, calling for Wind of Wisdom, as common sense is a gift to each soul, as common environment is the inseparable planet, as common desire is to live in a better world.
300 million tennis balls made each year taking 400 years to decompose – Belgian designer turns them into comfy chairs instead
At least that is the hope of Belgian eco-designer Mathilde Wittock, who fashions bespoke furniture from discarded tennis balls. Wittock’s sleek, modernist chaise longues are entirely cushionless — save for the padding of 500 precisely arranged tennis balls. Her one meter-long benches are similarly sparse, with some 270 balls being both stylish and structurally substantial.
“It takes around 24 different manufacturing steps to (make) a tennis ball, which is around five days. Then it has such a short lifespan,” Wittock told CNN in a video call from Brussels. “I was looking into tennis balls because I played tennis myself, so I know there is a lot of waste.”
Around 300 million tennis balls are produced each year — and almost all of them end up in landfills, taking over 400 years to decompose. The US Open, which ended at the weekend, goes through around 70,000 each year, with Wimbledon not far behind at 55,000. Wittock estimates the lifecycle of a ball stands at just nine games, depending on the level of tennis being played. “Even if they are contained in their box, if the box has been opened the gas inside the tennis balls will be released over time,” she said. “(Eventually) they will get flat and you’ll have to throw them away.”
But creation isn’t the only goal. In fact, more important to Wittock is how her pieces are destroyed. “I’m an eco designer,” she said. “Eco design is about circularity. You can use great materials that are low carbon emission or recycled, but you need to think of the end cycle. If it’s not a circle, and if you can’t reuse (the elements) into something else, it’s not eco design. It’s even worse, because it’s new materials.” At the end of her furniture’s life, Wittock can de-assemble the hundreds of tennis balls (which are woven together without glue) to be recycled, where the fuzz is burnt off and the rubber shredded to make bouncy playground mats.
