Green Your Golf Bag: Eco-Friendly Picks for Golf Fans

Golf is a wonderful sport, but much of traditional golf is bad for the environment. However, new innovations have made things much more eco-friendly.

Green your golf game with these top eco golf gear picks for 2011!

Biodegradable Golf Balls
Most golfers know the sinking sensation of watching their favorite golf ball go sailing into the distant water hazard, lost forever. Equally frustrating is the annoyance of thinking you knew where you golf ball went, only to walk over and discover that it someone grew legs and scampered off into the wild. Either way, golf balls generally do not break down very much over time, adding a decidedly "non-green" checkmark to golfing. Golf balls can be quite toxic, especially to sea life that accidentally ingests them. This doesn't have to be the case, as several companies have their own lines of biodegradable golf tees available. First up is EcoGolfBalls (website). They sell a dozen EcoBalls for just $10. These are supposedly non-toxic and totally biodegradable, and are made out of (interestingly enough) super tough ground rawhide. Check out the EcoGolfBalls website for some cool clips of the degradation process. Their website could definitely use a facelift, but they sell a very cool and very eco-friendly golf product!

Another company selling more environmentally friendly golf balls is Wilson. They have a sweet product, the Wilson Eco Core Golf Ball. While it may not be as biodegradable as the EcoBalls, it certainly still is "green." These Wilson balls are made from 100% recycled material, including devulcanized rubber. The packaging is partly also from recyclable materials, a great plus! They retail for around $1 each online.

Eco Tees
Tees aren't the first thing people usually think of when they consider environmentally unfriendly practices in golf. However, stop and consider the enormous amount of trash generated by the thousands of tees left every day on golf courses worldwide? Sure, many of them are wood, but the paint and other materials mixed in with these golf necessities aren't that helpful to the environment. Instead, consider the awesomely green EcoTees. These are not made from wood, rather, they are resin and will naturally biodegrade over time. Check them out online at the PersonalizedGolfBalls website. Even more exciting is the stellar XT-1 Biodegradable Golf Tees. They supposedly deliver up to an additional 10 yards of range, thanks to their interesting design for golf, won't damage lawn mower blades and are 100% biodegradable! Check out the XT-1 tees at XT1Golf.

Solar Golf Carts
Ever thought about how much juice those little golf carts suck up? Sure, many are electric, not gas powered, but even electricity is often generated from coal plants or other dirty soruces. Consider the awesome Sun Drive solar powered golf cart instead. Sure, it's probably out of the price range for most people, but is certainly a cool concept, especially in climates with more direct sunlight year round (hello, California!). It's basically a solar power roof utility for golf carts, with additional options for other types of electric cars. Check out Solar Drive at their website.