Being fined for releasing balloons

[Marmitecrackers]

I've just seen another thing on TV where people were releasing tonnes of balloons to mark some sort of anniversary. I'm sure it seems sentimental but I can't quite believe anyone still thinks it's ok to release loads of little pieces of rubber to be scattered all over the place.

If I popped 100 balloons and just left them in the street as I popped them people would be appalled. Yet where the heck do they think the released balloons are going to end up??

Am I being unreasonable fir thinking you should be fined for littering if you do one of these mass releases of balloons?

@DookaDakkaDikku

No such thing as biodegradable balloons, whatever the packaging claims. Even in the right conditions they take months to break down, plenty of time for an animal to choke on them.

Yep.

Technically all latex balloons are biodegradable because they're made with a natural product that breaks down but you could wait 4 whole years for it to stop being dangerous to wildlife "litter" and eventually degrade to just leftovers.

Balloon releases should be illegal. You should never honour a lost loved one by mass littering. Release some trained doves if you have to! And even that is pretty grim tbh.

If you want pretty, colourful things floating off into the air, then you need bubbles.

Often pick them up while litter collecting on the beach , the knot end with several feet of ribbon all twisted with seaweed!

YADNBU

Releasing helium balloons may be a nice thought but dangerous to wildlife or even pets if they ingest bits of balloon.

What is even worse are those Chinese lanterns

@ErrolTheDragon

If you want pretty, colourful things floating off into the air, then you need bubbles.

Bubbles are an excellent idea

Or even paper confetti

"There are biodegradable balloons available" @Crunched

No, there aren't. Do you believe these balloons degrade into nothing before an animal can eat them? 

Biodegradable balloons are bullshit and helium is a scarce resource which we shouldn't be wasting on balloons.

I hate them with a passion (along with fireworks and Chinese lanterns)

I am a farmer. Balloons make me angry and sad. Angry that people are so selfish as to let them go and not care where they end up. Sad that it is yet another instance of people not respecting the environment, and the world that we leave for our children.

I've seen videos and photos of balloons wrapped around animals necks... Also those lit candles burnt on horses backs...😔 😔 😔 😔
YANBU

The latest balloon release I saw was in memory of a 3-year-old who had died in an accident. It is impossible to object in those circumstances because you would get a massive pile on.

They should ban the releases.

Sorry, but there's no reason good enough to release balloons into the environment, none whatsoever. It's selfish and self-indulgent. Losing a person is an absolute tragedy but how the hell does releasing balloons negate that? Imagine if everybody did it.

It's the same people who let off fireworks whenever they want to, strip shelves of any product, park in disabled spots without needing that space. Common theme is an enormous and misplaced sense of entitlement.

People's rights to do things extends only up to the point where they would be encroaching on somebody else's rights.

A young girl recently died locally and there was a planned balloon release. I commented on the post that invited everyone to it, saying how dangerous it was to wildlife/the environment. I was completely shut down. Apparently honouring someone's life is more important than the environment and potentially hundreds of animals' lives...as if the only way to honour someone is by doing a balloon release?! It's impossible to get through to the type of people who do this sort of thing.

Amazing that anyone would think YABU. This is nothing more than selfish environmental littering.

Balloons are bad, but not as bad as Chinese lanterns - thankfully the public seem to be rejecting these. My friend lives directly down wind of town, and has horses, she frequently used to find them in her fields and hedges. And she's not averse to returning balloon race balloons with a note to say to the effect: 'your litter was found on grazing land, please be more thoughtful next time you want to organise a competition for charity, and I might consider donating'

@ErrolTheDragon

If you want pretty, colourful things floating off into the air, then you need bubbles.

This! We surely could have invented something better than balloons or Chinese lanterns by now?

One of the first threads I ever posted on , about 5 years ago, was on this subject. It was full of posters trumpeting their right to release balloons and lanterns because they had lost someone (hasn't everyone/doesn't everyone eventually?)

And all convinced they were unique so one little balloon won't matter. I'm glad to see sense prevailing.

@DidoLamenting can you put a link to that thread? It would be amazing to see the difference

Yes, it should be illegal to release any kind of balloons or fireworks without permission from your local council. Chinese lanterns as well - although I think it may be already illegal to release those?

YANBU, and ditto re Chinese lanterns - awful things. There has been massive publicity over the last few years about the way that plastic litter is damaging the environment, yet people still persist with this nonsense. The government should legislate to stop these airborne littering practices.

I hate balloons of all kinds (except hot air balloons... but even they can cause problems when they crash down, out of control).

YANBU. Should be fined/prosecuted as littering, because that's what it is.

@DidoLamenting

One of the first threads I ever posted on , about 5 years ago, was on this subject. It was full of posters trumpeting their right to release balloons and lanterns because they had lost someone (hasn't everyone/doesn't everyone eventually?)

And all convinced they were unique so one little balloon won't matter. I'm glad to see sense prevailing.

I remember one such thread. One poster was firm in her right to release lanterns in memory of her child despite the damage they do. (I believe it was lanterns and not balloons.)

Agreed. It's also wasteful of helium gas - a limited resource with actual important uses.

[quote myhobbyisouting]@DidoLamenting can you put a link to that thread? It would be amazing to see the difference [/quote]
Took a while as actually most threads on the subject are heavily against them. This one might have been the exception.

It gets quite heated towards the end but it has several examples of posters who don't understand what a cumulative effect is.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2546776-To-think-that-if-you-find-a-deflated-helium-balloon-in-the-street-with-a-RIP-message-on-it?pg=1

I know the poster you mean @Andylion, actually interesting that on the thread a PP linked to all her posts have been withdrawn.

There’s no excuse for balloon releases and there are a thousand ways you can honor someone’s memory without doing this. Paint a stone for your garden, plant a tree, bake a cake, sponsor someone, pick up litter...

I don’t feel angry when I see a child releasing one ‘up to heaven’. I can’t say I would encourage a child to do it but I find that’s one thing and I can’t believe big releases still happen! Also companies who sell balloons in things like theme parks seem to accidentally release several every day. There is a lady on Instagram who cleans beaches, I admire her work but it makes her so angry she thinks it’s ok to take pictures of 2 little children releasing a balloon on Mother’s Day and slate them all online!
I admit I have released a balloon before, quite a few years ago as I got taken in by the ‘natural latex, it degrades like an oak leaf’, there was a lot less info on micro plastics and what natural is and isnt