Earth Day ShoutOut: For Businesses With Balls

As I mentioned yesterday, we're taking Earth Day right through the weekend with shoutouts for environmentally conscious golfers, golf companies and golf courses.

Ecobioball - A single use golf ball that's perfect for use where balls are just hit for swing practice, like from cruise liners.  This 100% biodegradable golf ball can take the full swing of a professional, yet biodegrades within 48 hours of hitting the water. The Spanish Ecobioball manufacturer claims that it won’t harm marine life and... awesomeness alert... the core of the ball even contains fish food.

Dixon Golf - Dixon Golf offers several different balls with different specifications. They're all eco-friendly and high performance, 100% recyclable and made from reprocessable materials. With the company's recycling program you can recycle any brand of used golf ball at a Dixon Golf retailer and get a credit towards the purchase of new balls.

Wilson Eco-Core - These are high performance balls with a core made from recycled rubber tires and packaging made from recycled board stock lessening negative environmental impact.

Lobster Balls - When news of an environmentally friendly golf ball made out of discarded lobster shells hit the wires recently, it quickly transcended golf media and went viral.  Developed by a team from The University of Maine and the Lobster Institute, a joint Canada-U.S. industry organization these balls are still in the prototype phase, but the amount of interest the story generated is proof that eco-freindly golf balls could be huge... as a business I mean.

Earth Day ShoutOut: The Awesome Golf Refugees

Happy Earth Day!

Golf... as I wrote earlier in the week... is a lot greener than most casual observers realize.  Organizations and initiatives to reduce golf’s environmental impact are multiplying... and they're creating a golf culture focused on protecting the environment and preserving the natural heritage of the game.

In fact, it's now difficult to imagine golf development of any sort that doesn't include an environmental plan and incorporate documented environmental management practices.

To that end I'm hoping to post a series of shout outs... today and throughout the weekend... to some of my favorite environmentally conscious golfers, golf courses, and golf businesses.

Dress codes don't apply to golf carts

Golf Refugees - They've been challenging golf culture convention for nearly a decade and practically invented the golfwear/urban streetwear category... a category once seen as a slightly subversive novelty, now a staple of fairway fashion.  

Golf Refugees is also the quintessential indy eco golf brand and the world's first carbon neutral organic golf wear brand.  Unafraid of feather ruffling and passionate about the game, Golf Refugees is clearly committed to producing golf apparel that's clean and green.  

Their stewardship however, is never sanctimonious, and their graphics reflect the humor inherent in a game as exacting... and addictive... as golf.   

For when you shank one into the gorse bushes.

To fully appreciate Golf Refugees' environmental commitment... and their humoristic creativity ... you must have a look at their blog.  There you'll be able to read about the extraordinary Earth Day initiative they've taken: Golf Refugees is actually submitting proposals to the the governing bodies of golf (USGA and R&A) to revised their Rules of Golf to incorporate "green" measures ... and readers can support for the proposals with comments and suggestions.  

Why not head over there now as part of your Earth Day Initiative.