Sustainability in Pickleball Paddles

Why We Care

We’re obsessed with pickleball, so much so that making sure our great-great-great-grandkids can play is at the top of our priorities. That means being conscious of what we put onto this earth. 

The reality is that every single high performance pickleball paddle on the market today is made from carbon fiber or fiberglass. The problem with carbon fiber and fiberglass? They’ve got big carbon footprints. A carbon footprint is basically the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that a product produces. Greenhouse gasses are a major contributor to climate change. We’ve only started using these materials in sporting equipment in the last 50 years, but we’ve grown to rely on them quite quickly. The reliance on fossil fuels is speeding up climate change, adding waste to landfills, hurting biodiversity, and more. We want to keep playing pickleball for generations to come, so we’re reducing the carbon footprint of sports equipment using natural, renewable materials.

 

What We’re Doing Different 

From day one we’ve strived to replace the most pollutive materials with natural, low impact alternatives whenever possible. Even our packaging is printed with algae ink! When we haven’t found suitable alternatives, we’ve invented our own–like BioFLX™, our paddle face material made from hemp and flax fibers. Of course, we’re still far from perfect. To keep our paddle quiet, we use a synthetic polymer core, and are innovating around new technologies to replace the plastics we currently use to optimize performance. Beyond that we focus on two main principles: reduce waste whenever and wherever possible, like partnering with OTZ Sports to bring biodegradable overgrips to pickleball and repairing broken paddles to give them new life. And build products that people will love and use for a long time. 



 

  Revolin Sports Other Paddle Companies
Energy Use
  • Production of our BioFLX™ face generates 83-98.8% less CO2 than competitors using fiberglass and carbon fiber
    • Energy-intensive production generates high CO2 emissions, causing smog and ocean pollution

    Face Material

    • Plant-based fibers from renewable resources
    • Fiberglass made from polluting minerals and chemicals
    • Carbon fiber also known as graphite made from petroleum
    Waste
    • 70% raw materials sustainable by weight
      • 20% renewable + low emission (flax, hemp, balsa)
      • 50% recyclable  (core, edge guard, endcap)
    • Reusable molds allow Zero Waste TerraGrit™ Surface
    • Packaged with renewable, recycled material
    • 0-25% sustainable by weight
    • Manufacturing waste of up to 30% by weight
    • Single-use plastic sheet molds for paddle texture add hundreds of tons of plastic to landfills every year
    Manufacturing + Source Location
    • Designed, manufactured, and assembled in Michigan. 

    •  80% of materials sourced from the USA

    • Designed in the USA, manufacturing and assembly locations vary

    • Not transparent about material sourcing 

    Social Mission
    • Partnered with One Tree Planted so we plant a tree for every paddle sold.
    • We donate to charities like Outdoor Afro
    • Social help is seldom a core part of mission