To support a ban on Chinese Lanterns

[Myleetlepony]

www.nfuonline.com/Regions/East-Anglia/News/Fight-continues-against-lantern-menace/
They have got to be one of the most stupid ideas around at the moment. I've written to two popular local wedding venues that allows them to be set off, highlighting the NFU campaign and asking them to consider banning them. Waiting for replies. However, I think they need to be banned from sale completely.
If this wire got around an animal's leg it wouldn't break, it would sever skin, flesh and tendon. So it was terrifying to find one in my ponies' field last weekend. Not to mention the impact if parts of the lantern were eaten. Or if they get into hay or feed. Or if they landed while still alight... Or imagine a cat or dog getting tangled in the debris...
So, could the Bridezillas on here bear this in mind when they make plans for their happy day please?

ccp, you really are just stirring, aren't you? If you'd read the thread, you'd know that some are made of wire, and some (supposedly better) are made of bamboo.

Trinity, don't feel bad - you didn't know, now you do.

Yes sorry, I should also have said that I don't think Trinity or sassysusan should feel bad - I've always thought they were lovely. It was only when I was camping over the summer and a couple of them flew over our campsite when I was talking to the campsite owner that I realised how dangerous they are.

'Trinity - the chance of your lanterns falling still lit onto a farmers head are very very very low. Go out and enjoy them!'

In a rural area and an area with water near it, there's every chance it will at the least be a false alarm the RNLI has to deal with.

Float them in a pond if you need to use them.

cccp would be singing a different tune if it were his house with his kids in it that went on fire due to someone's enjoyment.

Where the bloody hell did these things come from anyway?

i have never seen them, in the summer I was pissed and saw a load of lights flying across the sky. I serously wondered what the hell they were. Thought I was in a Jerry Bruckheimer movie

Yes, agree that they are pointless, and there is no need to use them. But can't imagine you can ban them - firworks are legal, aren't they, and they cause far more damage, injury and distress to animals.

Think they came from Thailand originally but they seemed to have spread. They are banned in some countries I believe.

As far as I can see nobody is trying to make anyone feel bad.

If you want to use them agree with the idea to tie a long bit of string on them, so when the light goes out they can fall back down into your garden.

'They will eventually be banned once someone is killed or badly injured'

I doubt that, because on a national scale these accidents dont even register.

The cost of policing a ban would be far far greater than fixing the tiny amount of damage caused by lanterns each year. No disrespect to the anecdotal horror stories on here.

I think it's probably easier to ban things that havne't been part of our culture for a long time.
Like, if tobacco was discovered now it probably wouldn't be legal.

'ccp, you really are just stirring, aren't you? '

No. What part of me liking chinese lanterns and not wanting them banned over a few isolated cases are you not understanding?

Thank you for enlightening me about this issue. I have never been party to these things being lit and have only seen them a couple of times. Thought they looked pretty but agree that they might be dangerous.

YANBU

'No. What part of me liking chinese lanterns and not wanting them banned over a few isolated cases are you not understanding?'

ummm, the reason
the total lack of concern for the animals that have suffered already
the lack of concern for anyone who has had property damaged
the lack of concern for the amount of money that has been wasted on search & rescue when these things have been mistaken for flares

Really ccp? Funny that they are banned in Germany, Malta and Australia then

ccp, I said you were stirring because you're clearly not bothering to read the thread, just trotting out the same rubbish regardless.

Agree they do look like flares.

I know I must have been living in a box because i had never heard of or seen them until this summer, but bloody hell they were bright.

yanbu and i would ban fireworks as well, so there.

I don't think you were living in a box, I think they just weren't being imported in great numbers until this year.
I have seen loads on campsites this year, had never seen one in RL before.

Is there a petition or something anywhere?

i think they've only appeared this year, getorf.

I agree with firework ban as well, fwiw (so there, right back atcha ) but doubt that the small state lot we have in power at the moment would even glance at it.

Yeah, they're this year's 'thing'. I think they've become so popular because wedding trends can become institutionalized very fast - if just a couple of people do the same thing at their wedding, all their about-to-be-married guests assume it's 'the done thing'. Case in point with favours, which are fairly new but which lots of people just automatically accept as essential wedding baggage.

YANBU

To me it's just another form of littering, unless totally biodegradable (even leaving aside the safety aspect). As are balloon releases.

Don't think the same applies to fireworks.

good point Getorf, it's bonfire of the health and safety regs this year isn;t it.... so these things may be around for a few more years yet.

Yes, but with a high proportion of rural MPs in Government now maybe things that affect the countryside will get a higher priority?

Thank you for keeping on discussing all of you, and particular thanks to ccp
I can't find any petitions, I will contact the NFU and find out what would be the best action - for those who would like to take action.
I don't think anyone is trying to make anyone else feel bad here, I'm not anyway. Does anyone else think that the only safe and responsible way to fly them would be to tether them in some way? Bearing in mind how thermals will affect direction as they gain height, even on a still day, I don't see any other way of making sure they don't land a long way from the launch site and cause harm or damage.

Just read this from ccpccp, I'm flattered.

"BTW - attacking the poster rather than the post weakens your argument."

I've read back and I can't find me making any personal attacks about her/him. If she/he thinks I have then they haven't been round mumsnet long enough to experience a genuine personal attack I guess.
Keep on posting ccpccp, at the moment you seem to be doing a great job of helping people to make up their minds about these lanterns. And most agree they are a hazard.