To think mass balloon releases are selfish and should be banned?

[QuestionableMouse]

I've just heard about a mass balloon release in memory of some teens who were killed in a car accident. I hate them and think they're selfish; they're so damaging to the environment (ingesting balloons or the string can lead to a horrible death for both farm and wild animals, including marine life.)

The emoting behind them is lovely, but I hate the fact that they're essentially delayed littering. Releasing bubbles or seeds can do the same thing but without killing wildlife!

The balloons were environmentally friendly

There is no such thing as environmentally friendly balloons, even though some are falsely marketed as such.
balloonsblow.org/latex-balloons-still-kill/

Read an article about a bunch of celebration balloons drifting across the path of an aircraft at London City Aircraft. Such a good way to memorialise a dead person - by nearly causing a plane crash.

They can find a way to 'grieve' that does not damage our planet and kill animals.

Most people wish to help and care for the environment in anyway they can.

Yes, you are right. Most people “wish” it but actually do very little about it.
It would mean having to change their ways so they come up with all sorts of excuses in their heads to justify it to themselves why they can’t actually do it.
And of course there is the rest of society who just doesn’t give a fuck.

Laws are neede d and campaigns so that people know about the environmental damage before they are bereaved or that a venue will sensitivily say that unfortunately we can't have a balloon release because it is against the bylaws.

There was a right hoo-haa in our town a couple of years ago when the scouts let off a balloon release. A few of us wrote to complain and the replies showed that the scouts couldn't care less and didn't see a problem with it .

Misguided and nothing more than delayed littering in my opinion.

I wouldn't say that to someone who was grieving but i think mass balloon lifts and chinese lanterns are awful.

There has to be better less environmentally damaging ways to remember someone.

YANBU.

It is unreasonable to call grieving people who do not know about this ‘selfish’, yes. And judgey and unkind.

People really don’t know.

There needs to be more information / education, and we need to fund and promote imaginative, creative, and safe ways for people to say goodbye and mark their grief in secular rituals.

What BahHumbygge said. I think the medical aspect needs to be emphasised.

I think it's staggeringly cruel to post this thread today and reference the recent accident.

I agree with you OP, I wish they would be banned.

A woman was murdered in our village a few years ago, it was an absolutely tragic case, and every year on her birthday they do a balloon release.

I regularly see these balloons in the woods (well, from that release, or another) when I'm walking the dog. They're massive shiny foil things, and no matter what the intention behind it is, it ends up being litter.

I don't see how anyone could say anything to them without sounding like a heartless cow.

Helium is a finite element and cannot be made.

It is so light, it can defy gravity and, once release, can escape the atmosphere and be lost into space.

It is the only noble gas so far that has been found to act as the perfect coolant for MRI scanners - both for patients and non-patient use.

Helium balloons are choking hazards and a frivolous waste of resources.

YANBU OP.

I agree but people are ignorant

YANBU. I always hate the leaving of plastic wrapped flowers at the scenes of accidents too - litters the environment with plastic and just puts money into the hands of supermarkets/florists. I think it’s much nicer to put the effort and money towards doing something constructive or charitable in the name(s) of those we have lost.

I am loath to call grieving families selfish, but I really do wish that these balloon releases and the ridiculous Chinese lanterns could be banned.

They cause so much litter, and can be fatal to wildlife.

Chinese lanterns have been known to get caught up in trees or on a roof and cause fires too.

My 10 year old son passed away on 2nd January this year after a year long battle with cancer. The following day would have been his one year diagnosis anniversary. His school did a balloon release on the morning of his funeral. The children enjoyed it and wrote messages to him on the balloons.

I thought it was lovely that so many people were thinking of him.

MuddlingThroughLife
That's so sad. Sorry for your loss.
I agree it is nice for the school to do something.

Much as I don't doubt many releases come from a good place, I still disagree with balloon releases ajd chinese lanterns though.

I wouldn't be impressed if a balloon scattered seeds all over my garden.

I think your point is logically unassailable, but if yo want to get angry about plastic/rubber/non-biodegradable materials damaging wildlife and the environment, it's a bit odd of you to choose one of the very few examples that might actually hurt someone who is grieving

I am so sorry for your loss muddling. I can't even begin to comprehend your pain.

Surely though it would have been even nicer if the children had written their messages on labels and tied them to a tree. Then that tree becomes a memorial to your son and those children for ever.

If we can't talk to grieving people about this, we aren't ever going to change things. It's hateful that we have to have these conversations.

I agree OP. Why not a mass planting of bulbs or mass litterpick?

There is a well known, long standing poster who commemorates her deceased child by balloon release.

It's made it a bit of a 'no go' subject for those of us who 'kniw' her and didn't want to upset her.

And no, I wouldn't condemn this practice in front of an audience I knew to contain a bereaved parent for whom this practice (which had sadly been going on for years) was important.

For the record, yes, I agree they are wrong. But it perhaps is better not said in some places.

Environmentally friendly my arse.

It is littering. Which is illegal and done by people who have no care for the environment. But I've said this before and had my arse handed to me on a plate. As apparently the feelz of the bereaved override everything else.