Élan describes my personal feelings about tennis—as well as about a sustainable environment.

Stop throwing away tennis balls just because they’ve lost their bounce! Recharge them instead.

Each year approximately 300 million tennis balls are manufactured, resulting in 20,000 metric tons of waste that is not easily biodegradable. Over the years, I became frustrated by the discarding of tennis balls still having good felt. And none of the retail "ball repressurizing" devices that I tried actually worked—because they leaked or didn't create enough pressure. So I pieced together some spare parts lying around my house and my tennis balls are now kept pressurized. I am no longer wasting any balls.

This project was created out of passion for tennis and respect for the Earth. Read more about responsible tennis and how you can "play green".

Anyone with a hand wrench can put one of these ball rechargers together with just a few parts. After making a PayPal donation, you are invited to visit the pages of this web site to learn everything you need to know. Once you have the parts in hand, assembly time is about one hour.

These web pages include:

• Drawings, photos, complete parts list, and assembly instructions
• Up-to-date clickable links of where to purchase every part online, or at a hardware store
• Instructions: How to keep your tennis balls pressurized and in top shape
• 3-ball or 7-ball units — both plans included
• How to build larger capacity units

I continuously search for the best prices and keep my vendor list updated. For example, the Internet search engines and price comparison sites will lead you to a vendor having the lowest price for the ball canister, but that vendor fails to ship an essential part! (So that it can be sold to you separately.) And so I suggest an alternate vendor that actually sells an improved unit, which is complete. I’ve made the mistakes and have done the research so that you don’t have to.

Or, if you prefer purchasing parts from me, that’s also possible. Whichever way you go, a 3-ball unit will cost you less than $70 and a 7-ball unit less than $100. If you are a handyman like me, then you may already have many of the parts. Read more about the savings you can expect by recharging your tennis balls.

These make great gifts for your tennis élan-friends. Make as many as you like—there is only a one-time donation to visit the web site, and your "cookie" will last for a year. No registration required. Only one household per donation though–please! I am trying to recoup the trouble it takes to keep everything updated. Thanks. Stay green!