Given the outdoorsy feel of golf, it’s easy to forget that golf balls are one of the most substantial sources of litter on earth -- and, for that matter, on the moon, but the lobster shell golf balls are looking to change that.
For each resident of the continental United States, one golf ball is lost or discarded every year, and according to researchers from the Danish Golf Union, golf balls require between 100 and 1000 years to completely decompose. Fortunately, a team from the University of Maine has proposed a solution, using a biodegradable material that abounds in New England: lobster shells.
"It drives like a real golf ball, and it sounds like a real golf ball [when struck]," said Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute at University of Maine.
The main goal of the lobster shell golf balls project is to reduce waste at lobster canneries in the Northeastern U.S., and boost the profitability of the industry.
"What we’re trying to do is take that waste stream and create a value-added product from it," added David Neivandt, one of the UMaine engineers who helped design the lobster shell golf balls.
Photos courtesy University of Maine
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