To take my daughter out of nursery because of balloons

[Theharvestwidow]

My husband is a farmer and today came home with a balloon with long ribbon attached, which he rescued from a calf trying to eat it in the field. We have realised it is from DDs local nursery as part of a mass balloon release (this is the second such event in the space of a few months). It seems this time each balloon had a child’s name and what they want to be when they grow up and were released as part of class ‘graduating’. The previous event last month was I think to raise money for local firefighters, they wanted us to donate £1 for a balloon but I refused to take part. It’s a big chain nursery.

Husband and I are obviously lovers of the countryside (and the planet in general!) and I feel really strongly about cutting down on the use of plastics and littering/rubbish etc. I’m going to take the balloon in to nursery and write a strongly worded email to head office as I wonder if this kind of activity is dictated by some central policy, but I do feel in this day and age with so much more focus and understanding on environmental issues, that it’s a bit nuts to still be encouraging our next generation to do this and want to consider looking for a different nursery which acts more responsibly...AIBU?

Balloon releases are terrible, but a lot of people don't know that. I would make your letter to head office passionate about wildlife but not hostile or accusatory and hope they will change their traditions throughout the chain. This is a chance for you to make a change for good in the world with your impactful visual (the ballon from your field). It's not a crisis of conscience about which nursery your child is at (yet.) Give them a chance to learn and change their behaviour before you make any moves that affect your DC.

YANBU balloon and Chinese lantern releases should be illegal.

It is and always has been littering which is unpleasant but also a risk to wildlife etc and should attract a fine, no questions. Just a fine. As much as I have sympathy for those who have lost loved ones or want a world without these horrific illness it's just littering. That's all. They don't waft off to an alternative reality.

By all I mean it is littering and should be as socially acceptable as that behaviour (in not)

This is the most depressing and joyless thread ever. It's a few fucking balloons ffs.

@serialtester Part of the reason for the current environmental crisis is the attitude of 'a few doesn't matter'. (A few balloons, a few journeys, a few bits of recycling...) If everyone cared about doing 'a little' it would make a huge difference.

This makes me so cross, it's organised littering not to mention the damage or does to wildlife. DDs school were planning a balloon release and a few of the mums complained. School said it was OK because the Balloon Association had told them the balloons were biodegradable and would biodegrade in the same time as an oak leaf. Sounds OK, until you learn it takes 4 years for an oak leaf to biodegrade (I googled it). I told them I didn't mind seeing oak leaves on the floor but I did object to seeing tatty old balloons littering the countryside. They relented in the end but not before making the point that the children wod be so upset. Idiots! It still boils my blood to think how stupid they were and what a poor example it would have set the children.

serialtester well maybe, but it won’t be as joyless and depressing as living on Earth in 20 years or so will be, if attitudes like yours prevail.

This is the most depressing and joyless thread ever.

Encouraging children to waste plastic and litter the countryside with things that kill wildlife and livestock is not joyful.

Balloons are hazardous to dc. (Look it up)

Keep them away from your young dc.

I just hope no one who has posted drives

I can't believe all this environmental rubbish - bigger things to worry about. I still love balloons

Thanks for all the messages and helpful suggestions, I have spoken to nursery and emailed head office. Head office were helpful and have instructed all regional nurseries to stop releasing balloons while they review their policy which is excellent. The nursery managers response was apologetic but I admit to being a little alarmed by the lack of insight, she told me that she thought it was ok because ‘they mostly just get stuck in the trees’ I did point out that birds live in trees and they maybe didn’t want to share it with hundreds of deflated balloons and bits of string.

That’s a good result OP _ hopefully like plastic we will have attitudes changing.

@SAHDtoday because people who drive cannot disagree with littering?

@serialtester I can assure you there is nothing remotely joyful about finding one of your animals with balloon string wrapped around its tongue and a balloon lodged half way down its throat so that it has suffocated to death. And it only takes one balloon, not ‘a few’.

You know perfectly well most people drive, SAHD. You don’t seem to know that it’s completely irrelevant to this discussion and raising it makes you sound extremely hard of thinking.

Mostly getting stuck in trees?? And she thought that was ok? What a bloody fool she sounds

@serialtester the only depressing thing about this thread is your ignorance.

I would have been straight up the nursery after the first release to be honest, things like this make me so angry. Especially when done by people entrusted to educate the next generation. Please complain and let us know the outcome

I honestly had no idea anyone still did this! Glad your dh got if off the poor cow!

@Poppins2016 I completely agree with you when you say it's a problem that many people think just a little bit of this and that doesn't matter. I also agree that everyone should make an effort.
However, in this thread people pretend like balloons are an environmental desaster, and that's simply bullshit. If you do not buy balloons as one of the ways you avoid plastic or unnecessary stuff in general: Great! But acting like everyone who doesn't act that way is an environment-destroying bastard is quite a stretch.
And considering that most likely every single user here does things that are bad for the environment, even though they are not necessary, it's pretty hypocritical.

INFORMING people that something is bad for the environment: Absolutely! Rasing awareness about issues is always great.
Blowing it way out of proportion: Ridiculous!

Ironically keeping/breeding cattle, as the OP apparently does, is very bad for the environment as well.

I do know that most people drive, just pointing out that more air pollution and rubber pollution comes from cars than balloons so the reaction isn't justified

I agree with @KelpianCasserole.

This is ignorance so educate them 1st and then make a decision.

At least it's not an emotive topic, so you have some hope of changing their point of view.

My local hospital were having a balloon releasing event in remembrance of angel babies that had sadly passed and their parents which was advertised on FB: 1 plucky poster decided to mention the damage to wildlife and got hung out to dry!

It’s pretty hard to live these days without a car. It’s pretty easy to live without mass balloon releases.

Taking a child from a nursery over 30 balloons isn't going to stop the thousands of tonnes of rubber that gone into the ocean from tyres tho is it, or the chemicals from fossil fuels or farming or production, so if a child should be taken out of nursery for them doing something that was meant to be for a good cause, what should the reaction be to serious things,

And has anyone contacted dogstrust, pretty sure they have an advert where they release balloon dogs into the world, for people to find, it's for a good cause but pollution