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!

Well on that I would disagree; there's a lot of information about balloons and the damage caused and people still do it, saying "It's only a few" and others saying "Let them grieve". It's not perhaps a highly publicised problem but it's part of the entitlement epidemic where people do as they like. That's sheer arrogance.

I can't believe some of the ridiculous replies on this thread. I absolutely see that some people would spout any shite to be argumentative...

Yeah, the idea that someone is entitled to behave in a crappy way is often excused with "His/Her mum/dad/gran/grandad/aunt/uncle/best friend/best friend's best friend/some random he/she went to school with has died!" is used as an excuse, but the ignorance that prevails in our society is truly horrifying.

Yanbu.

I did a beach clean recently. Soooo many bits of balloon were picked up.

Toomany, thanks for stopping those bits of plastic ending up in birds and sea mammals.

Wrapping environmentally destructive flowers in sheets of non-recyclable plastic film..

Oh God, this. When did this flower obsession become such a thing? Was it Diana? Nothing says respect and remembrance more than cellophane and plastic ribbons blowing in the wind. It's seems as though now, sometimes, that people rush to the scene to be the first to lay flowers.

I agree with a PP - literally everyone is a bereaved person at some point. My dad just died a month back - if were to release balloons to send his soul up to heaven or to raise awareness for the Alzheimer's Society after his long, horrifying illness, he would have been aghast :(.

YANBU. There's lots of ways to collectively grieve without causing damage.

It's not going to be much comfort to the people years down the line (and not many years at that) that they can't have a medical procedure because we've used up all the helium in balloon releases.

And the littering and damage to the waterways and the environment: can you imagine telling someone you love that you will remember them by littering and killing wildlife? How do you imagine they would react?

I've just heard about a mass balloon release in memory of some teens who were killed in a car accident.

Op, don't now say you you were ranting on FB last year and it cropped up today when you opened with this?