A Talk on the Wild Side.
Credit: USFWS
Balloons are great at birthdays, weddings, graduations and more, but once they get loose, balloons can pose a threat to many animals.
Birds, turtles and other animals commonly mistake balloons for food, which can harm or even kill them.
In addition, many animals can become entangled in balloon strings, which can strangle them or hurt their feet and hands.
For example, more than a hundred balloons were recently collected at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey at a cleanup, and that’s just the number that made it to this one particular beach.
Some of the following pictures are hard to look at, but they make clearer than any words why we all should find alternatives to letting a balloon go.
Credit: Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program
Photo: Pamela Denmon, USFWS
Photo: USFWS Eastern Shore of VA and Fisherman Island NWR
Sea turtles are especially hit hard as they surface to breathe and eat and commonly eat balloons.
Any suggestions on what we should use?
Here are some ideas:
http://balloonsblow.org/environmentally-friendly-a...
I would think that those who release balloons are subject to fines or more, depending upon the jurisdiction. I know that balloon-releasing rituals have become part of certain occasions (birthdays, weddings and anniversaries immediately come to mind). I have made myself the least popular guest at several of these functions by pointing these facts out to the party.
You should address impacts of balloons that don't have strings since many mass releases don't have strings.
We have plenty of brainies around. Someone should invent an edible (by birds, turtles etc) baloon - maybe made of paper or straw ?!! Think.
Clemson University does a very large balloon release before every home football game...
Or maybe we humans could stop having such wasteful traditions? Instead of releasing "balloon like" objects why not turn that celebratory event into something more positive and less wasteful: Release floral/plant seeds into the wind?
I don't release balloons, largely because it simply doesn't appeal to me. But if it's such a big deal, maybe we should allowing oil to be transported by boat, require anyone who buys a pet(including fish and hamsters) to be trained and legally licensed, ban pet snakes because they eat mice, and outlaw eating meats. Just a thought.
To believe people have common sense is hopeless.102
Get a Life, please just stick to the subject here. Releasing balloons into the air IS blatant littering and should be just as illegal as tossing trash onto the ground.
Releasing balloons is totally preventable and there are so many safe and fun options! I got Burke county public schools to stop releases and would love to see other counties follow. I do have a petition on change.org asking Pat McCrory, the House and Senate to stop all launches in NC https://www.change.org/p/north-carolina-state-sena...
Did you know that Helium is used in cooling for the superconducting magnets in MRI scanners and there is no substitute for it due to Helium's low boiling point? It is also used in breathing ventilators for infants and the ill. In 1996, Nobel Prize winner Robert Richardson issued a warning that supplies of Helium are being used at an unimaginable rate and could be gone within a generation. Life saving device or wasteful littering?
I have a petition on change.org asking NC Senate, House, and Gov Pat McCrory to ban balloon releases https://www.change.org/p/north-carolina-state-sena...
What about providing bubbles to blow instead of releasing balloons?
Plant trees for celebrations, or in memory of loved ones!
Maybe a company will come up with environmentally safe balloons for wildlife.
Isn't it time someone created a soy based balloon that is organic and biodegradable?
"Biodegradable" balloons do exist but they can take years to break down and can wreak havoc before they decompose. No balloons are safe to release and the ribbons attached are just as deadly to wildlife.
I love the idea of releasing wild flower seeds for celebrations. A family friend passed and she provided tulip bulbs to plant in her honor. Those is much more rewarding than any balloon. We need to be stewards of our earth and wildlife.
Wish laterns are biodegradable with no wires etc. They have a wax core you light and the paper balloon folks with hot air and you release it. It's made of tissue paper
Why are they even (still) legal. People have been harmed as well. Balloons are pointless, useless, and an anachronistic thing that nobody would miss if they were gone.
" Release floral/plant seeds into the wind?"
Yes, so we can all have unwanted flowers and weeds in our yards.
How about we release nothing?
And the remains of your half-burned tissue paper come down - where? In the Ocean? Waxy paper is still a pollutant. On land? Someone has to pick up the remains of your "wish" and dispose of it.
My "Wish" is that people learn to take responsibility for their actions.
Please stop this totally unnecessary tradition.
Maybe a thoughtful song to be played exhibiting the idea of balloons and recycling into synergenic conciousness for the better of the world not the deterioration of it .
Sorry I am a little late on this. I only did it once in childhood, and never gave the practice much thought. Today I went to savethewhales.org and saw a reference to balloon releasing. Upon further web searching I found your site. Great job guys! Keep educating the public on this needless and harmful practice. I am definitely against it now.
Today Indianapolis Motor Speedway released 27,000 balloons at the beginning of the Brickyard 400 as they do every year. This results in 27,000 unknown spots being littered upon, not to mention the risk to wildlife. How can we get this practice stopped? Love Nascar, but this has to stop.
My husbandur home, from 1987 until 1992 In the summer of 1987, we conducted a necropsy on a leatherback turtle that washed to shore in New Jersey, where we found the neck of a white latex balloon blocking the entrance to the small intestine from the stomach and four feet of attached ribbon in the intestine. We turned the balloon work over to the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington DC, since they had a broad base and the resources we lacked.. We are happy to see that our early work is being carried on by the next generations. Thank you..
There are many ways to celebrate occasions and safe ways too!
Qualatex balloons are biodegradable and are great way to be kind to the environment. No one is going to stop doing what they do, some have made it a tradition, but the safe products aren't being advertised. The harmful products aren't being replaced either. I think in order to preserve our way of life we need to take out the old and replace it with the new!
As we have changed the throwing of rice at weddings to bird seed, there must be a substitute for balloons...
"Qualatex latex balloons are made from 100% natural latex — not plastic. Our latex balloons are biodegradable, and decompose as fast as an oak leaf in your backyard! "
Well, my backyard oak has several years of undecomposed leaves under it.
Degradable balloons are NOT the solution.
https://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/...
Balloons Blow! Don't let them go!
How about releasing real butterflies?
Helium is becoming rarer and is needed for other things like med tests so depleting for balloons that then endanger and sometimes kill animals makes moo sense. Stop please.
I know releasing real butterflies sounds like a good alternative to balloon releasing, but it can have it's own ecological impacts. Especially non-native butterflies, when released can wreak havoc on native ecosystems.
I wish there were more awareness of the balloon releasing consequences.
Can you imagine hospitals and medical facilities releasing balloons?
Let them know through hospital assoc.
BAN BALLOONS ALTOGETHER
I live in San Francisco, CA and our Zoo is right at the beach. One day I took a walk along Fort Funston beach and saw the most miserable sight: a balloon grave yard of mostly deflated, some barely floating balloons littering the beach. there had to be at least 20. A place where balloons from the zoo went to die. Not only was it sad but also telling the impact that released balloons have on the environment. Living on a Peninsula, eventually everything ends up on our water. I say ban balloons entirely. I'll never buy them again and always will point out the threat that balloons are to our environment and wildlife when seeing them used in celebrations. This is a topic that needs a wider audience and more activism.
I've been to events where butterflies were released. Don't know what's involved, but if there's enough time to plan ahead, that's an environmentally safe alternative! I didn't read every single comment, so this may already have been suggested.
Just horrible. I did not know releasing balloons in the air hurt animals birds and strangled them. I am so so sorry. I agree. Don't release the hot air balloons. Please. Ban them please.
https://www.facebook.com/BalloonsBlow/
Plastic in general is choking the planet..and we all just watch it happen ??
This is so sad.. I have always been against releasing even one balloon, especial multiple releaseing.
LOL....I hate to laugh, but oak leaves in the yard take quite a while to decompose...and during that time, especially if 'your environmentally friendly balloon' ends up in a waterway....it will be available long enough to kill something. There are NO safe balloons. period.
I HATE BALLOONS
this is ridiculous
Dats so bad
it is so sad how animals die because of stupid balloons and helium balloons!!!!
it is very unfortunate .....
It is sad to see the animals die because of are carelessness it is just sad
people are stupid for releasing balloons
Crêpe papertoilet roll stands and a one inch wax ball and wick. They'll rise and show color and get oouus and ahhhs.
OMG Im gonna cry!!!:(
I see this happening so often on t.v., (city areas,etc.). I live in a rural area...what go's up must come down. It baffles me that this is ongoing. How do we come up with a way to grieve those we have lost without balloons? They do too much damage. If anyone reads and can offer advice on how to open eyes and hearts, I need knowledge on whom/where to reach out.
Hey guys
Why. Just dont realease them plz
I see this as having religious significance. Releasing balloons to go up to the heavens. Well folks, they don't reach heather heavens. They wind up littering and killing wildlife. I've seen the Wish lanterns but don't know what happens to them when they come down. We have to find an alternative.
DON'T LET THEM GO
Please stop letting the balloons go. It's a bad idea.
At our last high school reunion, alumni were given biodegradable bookmarks with flower seeds in them. They were given to recognize those alumni who have gone on before us. Alumni were able to take them home to plant.
Who has jurisdiction on the this matter; for instance, let's say Indianapolis Motorspeedway has an event where balloons are released. Is it the local PD's responsibility to be there and say "Oh, no you don't" or is it the Feds responsibility? Really...does anyone with a badge even have the courage to take on this issue? Not an easy one considering the heavy wallets and political connections at national events.
HERE IS THE SOLUTION: PRODUCE BALLOONS USING THE SAME MATERIAL THAT LAUNDRY DETERGENT "PODS" ARE MADE FROM. ONCE THEY GET WET, THEY MELT , PROBLEM SOLVED!
I concur with Capt. Ken that balloons should be disolveable when wet. Simple.
Can I please add on behalf of the balloon community that we also are trying to do the best we possibly can to stop balloon releases, but could you also note that the problem in these pictures, mostly, is the string, not the balloon. If I have a client wanting a balloon release, what do I do, say no? They will only go to somebody less scrupulous than I. I point out the environmental impact of a balloon release and most times, they go in a different direction. If they still want to go ahead, then I will do it, as I will use either no ribbon at all, or raffia (paper) ribbon, and VERY short, and DEFINITELY not foil balloons! As an industry, this is the way we are trying to go, as we do not, obviously, want balloons banned. Education is key, not banning them altogether as this only puts people against you, as generally people do not want balloons banned. WE AGREE WITH YOU, we don't want this happening!
Its stupid not to release baloons.
I would like more info on what damage mylar balloons can do. I am trying to convince someone who thinks they are safe, not to release mylar balloons.
Those of you saying to just release without strings need to see the Balloons Blow website pictures. A balloon floats to a high altitude where it bursts. The burst pattern makes it look like a jellyfish, that now comes down, ends up washed into the ocean, and swallowed by predators like dolphins, sea turtles, etc. Who then have foreign bodies in their stomach that will cause slow starvation and eventually death. Don't congratulate yourselves for releasing flying trash, strings or not.
Most balloons if disposed of properly are completely harmless... just gonna... throoow that out there... yeaaaa
I think it should be outlawed it's a form of littering!! Last time I checked littering was against the law in all 50 states!!
Good Lord, what do you want to control next
biodegradable - tissue paper - no strings - none make any difference since it's not edible for our wildlife.
Release butterflies or something else that flies preying mantis, ladybugs or release something into to ocean buy a bunch of lobsters from the store or restarant and set them free in their proper habitat. Lots of other things to release in memory of....
donde esta la lehe
I HATE BALLOONS> ALL OF THESE INNOCENT ANIMALS DIE BECAUSE OF DUMB PEOPLE WHO RELEASE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
We release butterflies at a suicide prevention walk I organize. I researched and researched and as long as you get a species is found in your region, release during migratory months and make sure the temperature is good, it is a wonderful and moving alternative since butterflies are a sign of hope.
I would love to see US F&W Service take a stance and get a law passed that forbids the release of any balloons. Even then it will still happen, but perhaps not in mass amounts as they currently are. Some may actually follow the law.
#BANASSAULTBALLOONS
As a balloon artist, I must say that both sides misrepresent facts. Balloonsblow and similar movements use anecdotal evidence to make it seem like all balloons are a problem, while certain latex industry fueled sites try to mitigate the impact by comparing the amount of balloon litter to the amount of plastic litter.
Balloons are biodegradable. They do break down. It will take between six months and four years under standard conditions, depending on the thickness of the latex. That's not fast, nor is it slow. Most of the problem balloons come from releases (which artists like me generally oppose), or careless parents and children (which only education helps, and the industry has pushed hard for that to their credit).
The answer is never simple, but it involves people being taught what things are made of and how to properly dispose of those materials. Use string instead of ribbon, deflate and cut up balloons and throw them in the trash, and don't release them into the wild.
I'm trying to get a message to Facebook to stop all the floating balloon images they use. Facebook is glamorizing the releasing of balloons and they need to stop. If anyone has an idea of how to do this, please help me.