It's almost assured that your brain isn't filled with microplastics or at the very least much less than claimed. The study that claimed that was pretty flawed. As usual the sensational got media attention but the refuting studies did not.
This is green washing no matter how you slice it. While it's an interesting idea, artificial refugia, like bat boxes or these balls, have to be very carefully designed so they don't have one of these negative outcomes:
Act as a trap for the targeted species with regards to predators
Kill the target species - often through thermal extremes
Just don't get used by the target species
There's some good work about this on (fuck, fine rummaging for paper) Australian quolls
I actually reached out to Cowan to asks a few questions. He was pumped that we were citing his work and using it in reclamation planning as landscape enchantments.
Anyway, artificial refugia should, at best, be viewed as a temporary fix, or a way to layer habitat on the landscape, never a full substitution.
I actually reached out to Cowan to asks a few questions. He was pumped that we were citing his work and using it in reclamation planning as landscape enchantments.
I'm in a completely different field, but there's nothing more awesome than seeing your work get used in real life situations that actually match up with your goals.
And people showing a genuine interest is a close second.
Not to mention that just leaving tennis balls out in the wild for wildlife means all that rubber and plastic and glue and whatnot leeching into the soil and environs.
I just learnt that there are 660 matches. That's SIGNIFICANTLY more than I thought (I know nothing about tennis), the number of balls makes more sense now.
I didn't know this until recently, but tennis balls wear out quite fast. Not structurally, not the felt, but the air inside escapes with the extreme pressure they endure. And soon they don't bounce so well.
If only sports balls had a way to refill the air...
So we’re just spreading trash in the environment and feeling good about it because it can be reused by other animals?
Sometimes it just works. Small octopuses love to take up residence in a beer bottle. It might not be the prettiest thing to find on the ocean bottom but it's often home to one of the most intelligent invertebrates.
And, after all, that glass is just congealed sand.
You will be glad to know that HOAs are almost unheard of in the UK and where they exist they're usually nothing more than an organisation for tending to the village green, common areas and sometimes library book boxes.
37 Comments
mEEGal@lemmy.world · 87 pts · 209d
I'd cheer to this but I put my nuts in a meatgrinder if these balls aren't as full of microplastics as my braincells
jol@discuss.tchncs.de · 45 pts · 209d
That's exactly my first thought. Whenever I see upcycled things that will just break down into microplastics in nature, I wince.
Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 13 pts · 209d
Your nuts are also full of microplastics
oxideseven@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 209d
It's almost assured that your brain isn't filled with microplastics or at the very least much less than claimed. The study that claimed that was pretty flawed. As usual the sensational got media attention but the refuting studies did not.
mEEGal@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d
I guess I can take apart the meatgrinder then
nuts dangling with reflief
oxideseven@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 208d
It's for the best. You're nuts... will... thank you, I guess?
Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 78 pts · 209d
This is green washing no matter how you slice it. While it's an interesting idea, artificial refugia, like bat boxes or these balls, have to be very carefully designed so they don't have one of these negative outcomes:
There's some good work about this on (fuck, fine rummaging for paper) Australian quolls
I actually reached out to Cowan to asks a few questions. He was pumped that we were citing his work and using it in reclamation planning as landscape enchantments.
Anyway, artificial refugia should, at best, be viewed as a temporary fix, or a way to layer habitat on the landscape, never a full substitution.
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 209d
I'm in a completely different field, but there's nothing more awesome than seeing your work get used in real life situations that actually match up with your goals.
And people showing a genuine interest is a close second.
realitista@lemmus.org · 13 pts · 209d
Not to mention that just leaving tennis balls out in the wild for wildlife means all that rubber and plastic and glue and whatnot leeching into the soil and environs.
yakko@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 209d
Thank you, I treasure comments like this! Does he weigh in on swift bricks anywhere? I do hope he likes those, at least.
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 34 pts · 209d
55000? Do they use a new one every....... uh.... s... serve? Is serve the word? Anyway, where does this huge number come from?
BadlyDrawnRhino@aussie.zone · 23 pts · 209d
A professional tennis serve often reaches speeds up to 230km/h, with the fastest recorded being 263km/h. So yeah, the balls wear out quickly.
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 29 pts · 209d
I just learnt that there are 660 matches. That's SIGNIFICANTLY more than I thought (I know nothing about tennis), the number of balls makes more sense now.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net · 14 pts · 209d
That's still about 100 balls per match
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 7 pts · 209d
True but if I'm seeing this correctly and a match may consist of 3 (5?) sets of 6+ games of 4 points, that's already 72+ (120?) balls.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net · 6 pts · 209d
That's a new ball every serve
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 5 pts · 209d
Yes. I know. That was my original question.
Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 209d
There’s also all the activity on the practice courts too.
rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social · 1 pts · 209d
My first thought as well.
This seems to be missed by... everyone here.
LurkingLuddite@piefed.social · 4 pts · 209d
So do mine for similar reasons ifyouknowwhatimean
jol@discuss.tchncs.de · 12 pts · 209d
I didn't know this until recently, but tennis balls wear out quite fast. Not structurally, not the felt, but the air inside escapes with the extreme pressure they endure. And soon they don't bounce so well.
If only sports balls had a way to refill the air...
bryndos@fedia.io · 5 pts · 209d
Or maybe sports could be pass times for normalsaurs to play. Instead of some insane culturally mandatory entertainment industry.
dmention7@midwest.social · 4 pts · 209d
Or just set a rule that you use the same ball the entire match. Balls wears out? Tough titties... improvise, adapt, and overcome.
jol@discuss.tchncs.de · 4 pts · 209d
Child, this is Tennis were talking about. It's a rich people game. There's no time to worry about trivialities like protection of the environment.
sukhmel@programming.dev · 1 pts · 208d
Yeah, we better think of making some solid gold equipment for tennis
Killer@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d
Wonder what the feasability of redesigning the tennis ball to be like those airless basketballs are
Rooster326@programming.dev · 2 pts · 209d
Imagine if professionals had to play like you and I did.
Not ideal conditions because who tf wanna go through 6,000 tennis balls in 1 day.
jol@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 209d
And it's bullshit, because so what if the ball is a bit less bouncy? It's less bouncy to your opponent too.
pedz@lemmy.ca · 19 pts · 209d
So we're just spreading trash in the environment and feeling good about it because it can be reused by other animals?
This just made me look up and learn about the environmental impact of tennis balls.
Pirat@lemmy.org · 5 pts · 208d
Sometimes it just works. Small octopuses love to take up residence in a beer bottle. It might not be the prettiest thing to find on the ocean bottom but it's often home to one of the most intelligent invertebrates.
And, after all, that glass is just congealed sand.
scala@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 208d
That's the problem with Tennis. The most wasteful sport as balls can't be recycled unless used for slides for school chairs or now nests for mice.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 209d
Plastic polution feel good story.
abbiistabbii@piefed.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 209d
You will be glad to know that HOAs are almost unheard of in the UK and where they exist they're usually nothing more than an organisation for tending to the village green, common areas and sometimes library book boxes.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 207d
Though that’s usually a parish council matter instead.
callouscomic@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 208d
"upcycled"
stray@pawb.social · 5 pts · 208d
The way that's angled, doesn't it just immediately fill with water the first time it rains?
Why don't they just change the tennis regulations to only use biodegradable materials?
ExtremeUnicorn@feddit.org · 1 pts · 209d
What colour are tennis balls again?