We’re ditching straws, switching to wooden and corn-starch disposable cutlery and reducing, re-using and recycling where we can. But what about balloons? Recently I went window shopping in our local mall and I noticed that nearly every outlet was handing out balloons to the kids. You’d really think that by now corporations and businesses would be aware of the effects balloons have on our ecosystems and hold back on using them as little marketing schemes to draw you into their stores and restaurants through your children. But nope.
The Risk Balloons Pose To The Environment
Litter
What goes up, must come down! Pollution created by non-biodegradable products is a very big and very real problem. The most popular balloon types are latex and mylar. Latex is considered the safer option because it is biodegradable, but this means that complete decomposition can still take up to four years — giving this piece of rubber plenty of time to destroy and destruct.
Animals And Nature
Animals often mistake strewn rubber balloons for food. Sea turtles for example often think the fluttering piece of rubber is a scrumptious jellyfish, but once ingested, balloons tend to cause stomach or intestinal blockages, eventually leading to starvation and then death. To add to this, the strings or ribbons attached to balloons can cause harm too. They often trap and entangle animals, causing infections, amputations, starvation, drowning and other fatalities.
Helium
Helium is such an important and misused element:
We use it in MRI scanners, fiber optics, welding, cooling nuclear reactors, cryogenics, lasers, LCDs, rare document preservation and breathing ventilators for infants - https://earth911.com/living-well-being/events-entertainement/balloons-environment/
Once helium is released into the air, it drifts into space, and cannot be replaced. Should we really be wasting it on party balloons?
Campaign To Stop Purchasing/Using Balloons
There is nothing wrong with being a little pedantic about plastic. To us, it might be just one balloon. To a critically endangered species, it could be their last meal. By choosing to eliminate items like balloons from our lives, we can have an enormously positive impact on the world around us. Now that's something to celebrate.
Are you on board with me? Are you ready to say no to balloons?