To think that if you find a deflated helium balloon in the street with a RIP message on it..

[Palomb]

You don't pick it up and post all over Facebook that you've found it, including pictures of the balloon and the note because you apparently want the poor bereaved person who sent it skywards to to know it landed.

That's not the point is it?

I think her post was probably well-meant. Or it might be grief-haggery. You know this woman, so are better placed to assess which.

I guess your FB friend has conflated balloon releases, where the actual aim is to find out where the balloon ends up, with a balloon release in memory of a loved one where the balloons travelling upwards is the important bit.

I would feel callous just binning the balloon and the note if I'd found it myself. I don't know what I'd do with it though.

No, you are right. I have released a balloon for a loved one once. It had nothing to do with where it would end up or who would find it. It was a way of remembering and release. There is little you can do though.

I would feel callous just binning the balloon and the note if I'd found it myself

I wouldn't.

I'd think that the real message had kept travelling upwards but that the physical things attached had become subject to the laws of physics.

Disposing of them discreetly would seem to me the right thing to do.

But I can see why someone would feel that they needed to acknowledge it somehow.

If it's the same one as I've seen, I'm sure it said the child's mum wanted to know how far it reached, as it specifically asked for her to be contacted on Facebook, and provided her name etc.

I don't think most people who do this kind of balloon release do so because they want to find out where the balloon lands.

I do have friends who release balloons for this reason, but I wouldn't chose to do so myself.

We chose the place our children are buried because we wanted them to be surrounded by the wildlife which lives there. I wouldn't want to think that one of the ways I then went on to remember them by resulted in harming some of that wildlife.

The amount of 'litter' caused by balloons released by bereaved parents is probably minuscule compared to any other litter dropped every minute of every day

Thing is we don't know how the person that released it will react. They might like to know where it ended up.

I found a balloon from the Barcelona Olympics in the Cotswolds. My "DM" made me throw it away.

Are Chinese laterns still littering? I like them and people say its just paper and bomboo so degrades quickly, but im not sure.

I don't know how to answer this except to acknowledge that I'm very lucky not to have lost a child. A person can't be replaced. As for balloon memorials, there's a risk that the balloon will be found by someone who will react as I did, rather than feeling as you do, and that does seem a risk to take with a memory.

I'm sorry I've upset people.

I don't think you've said anything wrong Pluck.

It's not just bereaved parents who do this sort of balloon release, sadly we all lose people we love, and we all make decisions and have opinions on the best way to remember them by.

Your feelings are different to other people's feelings on this particular subject, but no less valid, and as it happens I agree with you for the same reasons, which is why I wouldn't do a balloon release for my children, or any of the other loved ones I have lost. You shouldn't feel you can't share your feelings on what is a fairly general thread.

If I had found it, if there was a note I would have contacted the sender and let them know I had found it.If not I would have just disposed of it.

There was no need to stick a photo on FB but that seems to be a lot of peoples first thought. Our local spotted FB page has pictures of peoples bank cards on and all sorts when they should just give it into the bank.

Whatever did they do before FB was invented?

Pluck I don't think you said anything wrong either. I first thought of the environmental concerns of balloon releases when I first read the OP.
There is nothing wrong in reminding people about the problems with releasing helium balloons even if you drive a car and have a car There is an negative environmental effect of lots of things we do in life. If releasing a ballon provides some comfort to someone who is bereaved then that may well outweigh the environmental damage caused by balloons. That's differant from simply denying that balloons can cause a problem when they clearly do.
RSPCA info HERE

This thread is also a good reminder why I don't have Facebook.

I'd have just binned it, like I do any found litter.

planting something always seems a good memorial to me. There's a plant in my garden dedicated to someone.

I've seen them before that ask to be put on fb. If it brings them comfort then I don't mind at all.

puck me neither.
I like chinese lanterns, but i never release them on anniversaries as i fear something may choke on it. I couldn't stand that.
I don't think people who do it for this reason are wrong though.
If it brings comfort, it brings comfort.
Some people do things that others don't agree/or think are strange when they are grieving.

I'm sorry, I genuinely don't understand.

What did the note say? Was it a note to the deceased loved one, or..what? If so, yes, it is bizarre and insensitive to post it on FB.

Or was it a note saying 'this balloon was let off in memory of XYZ'? In which case,subs your friend (misguidedly) thought she was doing the right thing.

It's not a tradition I'm familiar with at all, I'm afraid.

Subs = 'maybe' (fgs)

Sorry I've been at work. The one I saw didn't say anything about a note.

I have been meaning to start this exact thread myself. I've seen no end of these photos on Facebook recently.

I would be fuming if my personal note to a loved one was plastered all over the internet like that. But then I've seen the writers of these notes actually comment on one or two of the photos thanking them for posting it.

Either way it's not something I would do or share.

I found a balloon like that once on my dog walk. I really didn't want to just bin it so I tied it to the fence in the churchyard.

I think if I did this I would be a bit upset to find out it had 'landed'.

Surely it is supposed to float up to our missing loved ones, never to 'land'

This thread is quite upsetting.

Only you know your friend and whether she would have posted it with the intention to be attention-seeking or upset anyone. I think it's far more likely that it's an innocent misunderstanding and she mixed up memorial balloon releases with the ones people do to see how far the balloon travels. Maybe give her the benefit of the doubt or have a quiet word about how it might upset people?

In pluck's defence, I think it is worth noting the environmental impact of all types of balloon releases, not to criticise the bereaved, who obviously had other things on their mind at the time, but in case someone sees this thread and thinks a balloon release is a good idea, so that they can be aware of the environmental impact and make an informed decision. People think a few balloons won't do much harm but, as with all environmental issues, it's the cumulative effect of a lot of people thinking that which causes problems. Since a pp asked, chinese lanterns are also dangerous:
www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/litter/chineselanterns
(Warning, photo of dead owl in article.)

Chinese lanterns have been known to set fire to straw stacks, barns and even the rug a horse was wearing. I wish people wouldn't release them.

I expect people leave instructions on such a balloon? Its clear that some people gain some comfort (sorry crap phrasing....) from releasing them. I personally wouldn't release a balloon or lantern.

Please don't judge anyone for posting these on FB. It is clear from this thread there are some who clearly are alien to this and are not aware of the correct thing to do (although there might not be a "one size fits all" correct thing for everyone) I'm mortified to say that I might have posted something like this. I really would not feel right at all throwing it in the bin.