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?

[FlapsInTheWind]

Biodegradable balloons my arse!

[bluebluezoo]

As much as I agree with this thread, I just have to point out that it’s not the same kind of helium

Helium is helium. It’s an element, there are no “different kinds”.

[ErrolTheDragon]

As much as I agree with this thread, I just have to point out that it’s not the same kind of helium.

@Strawberrypancakes - I'm a chemist and you've lost me there, what can you mean by 'not the same kind of helium'. (I didn't think mri machines only use one specific isotope of helium, for instance, and the stuff in balloons sure as heck don't.)

[RunBackwards]

Thank you! I was sure that was the case from my Olevel chemistry. Perhaps medical grade helium needs to be purer or something but it's all the same stuff!

[ErrolTheDragon]

@CoronaIsWatching

Could've been biodegradable ones

RTFT...they may salve the conscience of people who want an excuse, but don't significantly solve the problem.

[Al1langdownthecleghole]

Thank you for the petition link CandidaAlbicans2

As it’s so important, I wonder if it’s worth putting in the petition section as well.

[MissBaskinIfYoureNasty]

Its a grotesque thing to do and I'm not sure why you'd want to use the memory of a loved one as an excuse to litter and potentially kill wildlife. Erm..what a lovely "tribute"

[Brefugee]

Balloon releases and Chinese lanterns are little more than dangerous littering.

My local zoo is the one whose ape house (with a fantastic breeding programme for endangered primates) burned down on New Years Eve. about 3 months later i objected to a balloon release in our town on environmental grounds and on a local fb page and was shot down in flames. Despite the fact that it's a rural area and we often get posts from farmers asking people not to do balloon releases.

[MitziK]

@Crunched

There are biodegradable balloons available. Are you sure the event you watched wasn't using them?
I was invited to a (virtual) baby shower and could not tell the balloon decorations were eco friendly had it not been highlighted by the hosts.

They're not eco friendly and can kill just as many animals as standard ones do. Particularly in seawater, where they're exactly the type that marine life ingest.

oceancrusaders.org/latex-balloons-are-not-biodegradable/

balloonsblow.org/biodegradability-backyard-test/

Not brilliant for anybody with latex allergies, either. Plus there are the other chemicals added to make them and the ribbons/strings attached to them.


Can't stand the things.

[Sewrainbow]

I feel the same and will go further and say the same about piles of stuff at a roadside where a death has occurred.

A pile of rubbish is no memorial to a person!! If people really want to do it why don't they take the flowers out of the wrapping? At least they could biodegrade.

Who cleans it up and when? What's what's acceptable time limit to avoid offence?

There have been a couple of tragic crashes near us recently one being in the last week 4 teens and I drove past the site the other day. People dont stop at flowers now, they put balloons and clothes and drinks up and a number plate!

I wonder if the family even see it and read the messages, it's even more of a waste if they don't. What happened to sending a private card or note to someone?

Everything has to be so public these days. Seems to be since Diana died, unless I'm just old and grumpy!

[Cantdoitallperfectly]

Agree 100%. Also I wish companies would stop using them for marketing.
We had a few balloons left over from a pack that the grandparents had bought, we used them up at a party and I told the kids afterwards there would be no more balloons for environmental reasons, and they were on board once I’d explained why. Now we have paper bunting that gets used for birthdays, much prettier and doesn’t pop!

[ErrolTheDragon]

Little roadside shrines aren't uncommon in some other countries, but they're actual structures, so much more like a grave which gets tended, not just stuff that's piled up and left to decay.
Yes, I think the flower piling by people other than close family is mostly post Diana.

[Cantdoitallperfectly]

@Sewrainbow - agreed however the one thing I’ll say about this is that in our area it’s more often than not young men who are the victims of RTAs, and I think that these “memorials” serve as a reminder to other young drivers that they need to slow down.

[MitziK]

Who cleans it up and when? What's what's acceptable time limit to avoid offence?

Seems to be around five years where I live. Not to mention that some of them are in places where the act of setting up the shrine and adding more each year puts the mourners at significant risk of being added to the display of plastic, metal tealight cups and laminated A4 printouts of the person.

[Brefugee]

yeah, the roadside shrines where i live are maintained by the families/friends of those who died. If not they are cleared away by the local council

[Di11y]

I was at an event where they were proud the balloons they were releasing were biodegradable. but they released them with a meter of string each (everyone holding and releasing at the same time). what a hazard!!!

[CarrieBlue]

The waste of helium is just as awful as the littering. Balloon arches and table decorations are so unnecessary

[pipnchops]

Totally agree that releasing balloons should not be allowed. Bubbles is a good alternative.

I don't see the problem with using balloons on occasion if disposed of in a responsible way though.

[Bouncycastle12]

Chinese lanterns should be illegal. Absolutely idiotic and environmentally appalling.

[Candleabra]

I agree, I'd always thought they were a nice thing until someone pointed out the obvious. There's a balloon release near me, fund raising for a child who died. I haven't said anything though. I suppose I should, but the family are very active on Facebook, it could easily end up going very badly for me.

[Sewrainbow]

If shrines are maintained by the family, whilst it isnt something would do I think that's ok as its regularly cleared. I don't want to dictate how someone manages their grief.

Its more the dump the flowers and move on type thing, it's all about that person not the one who died and their family. It's a darn sight harder to go a grieving family and express condolences for their childs death than put flowers at the road side because everyone else does.

I know because I've done it. A friend at school died in a car crash in the early 90s. No one went and left flowers at the crash site those days.

Same with the facebook pages. I came across one of the recent victims ones because it came in my people you know box and I thought I recognised the name but not the face. I did, but from the news i realised. My mutual friend had wrote on their page, didnt know them, but wrote something anyway.... all about her.

What do they call them on here? Grief vultures. Make me cross I'll stop ranting and taking over your thread op, sorry!

[MostIneptThatEverStepped]

There are biodegradable balloons available. Are you sure the event you watched wasn't using them?
I was invited to a (virtual) baby shower and could not tell the balloon decorations were eco friendly had it not been highlighted by the hosts.*

Hundreds of people attended, each bringing their own balloons so I'm guessing some of them were probably not biodegradable.

[bluebluezoo]

I agree, I'd always thought they were a nice thing until someone pointed out the obvious. There's a balloon release near me, fund raising for a child who died. I haven't said anything though. I suppose I should, but the family are very active on Facebook, it could easily end up going very badly for me

The balloons blow fb page is great for this. If you alert them they will often post a tactful request and offer suggestions. Which IME are accepted more easily as it’s not an individual they can turn on. Plus it tends to bring a lot of sympathy and attention from their followers...

[Pumperthepumper]

I completely agree, I’d love to see a change to planting wildflower meadows in remembrance, they’re beautiful and support a huge range of wildlife.

I know this isn’t the same thing but I’d also ban artificial grass in private gardens. It’s so horribly short sighted.

[Shizzlestix]

It’s horrific. My sil organises a very worthy event annually (not in the U.K.) where loads of Chinese lanterns are released. It horrified me, particularly when I’ve put up pictures of injuries to horses (she owns one).

Pure littering and sending flames into the sky is crazy. A local farmer lost £70K of hay one year, possibly due to one. It simply doesn’t make sense.