FFS if you want to commemorate something don't be a dick and release HELIUM flipping BALLOONS!

[flashbac]

No matter how sad the occasion is or how tragic the story. Releasing helium balloons into the atmosphere is a really dickish thing to do.

This is said on every thread about helium. The helium used in balloons is different from the medical grade helium. It doesn’t matter

In what way - other than purity - is balloon helium different from the helium used in cryogenics or for supercooling magnets etc?

A family have lost a 12 year old daughter just before Christmas and you are choosing now to make a post to feel superior. You seem like a lovely person. Have a merry Christmas 🙄

@Lime37

A family have lost a 12 year old daughter just before Christmas and you are choosing now to make a post to feel superior. You seem like a lovely person. Have a merry Christmas 🙄

So when do we have conversations about these things?

What the family is going though is unimaginable nobody has said anything different. But this is a general discussion around the balloon issue which is an important issue and which does need discussion

Of course there are worse things, but two wrongs don't make a right.

Balloons and fire lanterns are a direct hazard to wildlife. They serve no useful purpose which couldn't be achieved in some other way.

This is the point though.
You don't need to release helium balloons because someone has died.

Probably not in direct reference to an event where this is another of children’s first brush with death.

Maybe january 22nd repost it if you still want the conversation

@secretllama

Agree... or those Chinese lanterns! The worst part is the person is grieving so you don't want to be seen as a dick telling them at that point. But I can't believe people still do this.

The event the OP is referring to is the balloon release for the little boy who was murdered by his step-mother. So it was a very sad occasion but I don't think the relatives were there

@Lime37

Probably not in direct reference to an event where this is another of children’s first brush with death.

Maybe january 22nd repost it if you still want the conversation

Why will there not be any families mourning then?

@Lime37

A family have lost a 12 year old daughter just before Christmas and you are choosing now to make a post to feel superior. You seem like a lovely person. Have a merry Christmas 🙄

If people don't speak up it will never end. Animals will continue to die, and the countryside will continue to be littered. Merry Christmas to you too if you can ignore that.

@purpleneon

Imo there are worse things that we do as a society to destroy the environment than release some helium balloons.

Not ideal but if that's how someone chooses to commemorate a loved one I don't really mind!

I could say don't be a dick and go abroad every year on a plane, but many of us do more than once per year even...

So you don't care about the wildlife/farm animals that are killed by them then?

Helium balloons and lanterns are a terrible idea and clearly more needs to be done to help people realise the potential harmful consequences of these gestures.

I'd add that releasing doves is another gimmick that can be very cruel. Lots of the doves get eaten by birds of prey.

In fact the Pope used to regularly release doves as a photo opportunity but he stopped because so many doves were being eaten alive by sparrow hawks which didn't go down too well with the tourists watching.

No one needs to release balloons of any type, quite apart from the fact that they create litter, which doesn't decompose, they injure and kill animals. I have just been reading a plea from someone who had a 3 month old donkey die; the post mortem discovered a balloon had been eaten by the young donkey. It will have died slowly and painfully. Living by the beach we daily see the tragic results of balloons on, birds, sea life and the environment.

@Lime37

A family have lost a 12 year old daughter just before Christmas and you are choosing now to make a post to feel superior. You seem like a lovely person. Have a merry Christmas 🙄

Is the OP speaking to that family? No. Are they trying to feel superior? No.

There are a number of ways that child can be remembered, that won't potentially kill a number of animals, which would presumably upset children.

It is a terrible tragedy when a child dies. Let's find a way for a fitting memorial/send off

Id like to add roadside memorials to the list also.

There are a few on the country roads near us. Lots of plastic ribbons & cellophane on the bouquets & balloons that don’t ever get removed, just added to.

So dangerous to the poor wildlife.

Every year on my dd's birthday I take balloons to the cemetery.
I tie them onto the shepherd's hook that holds a lantern.
Sometimes they blow away
Sometimes people will take them
I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks about it.
🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

Yeah, it makes me uncomfortable to see this too

I actually cannot get all that exercised about the climate effects (am nearly a denier, tbh) but I just see it as utterly pointless

How does this help that little boy now ? How does it help those left behind ? How does it prevent the same things happening in the future ?

Campaign. Be better. Don’t look the other way when you have safeguarding concerns. Don’t avoid the children and families that seem a bit different. Ask questions and don’t leave it to someone else.

Who the hell are the 13% that think the OP is wrong??

@flashbac

No matter how sad the occasion is or how tragic the story. Releasing helium balloons into the atmosphere is a really dickish thing to do.

If this is about the story I think it’s about, starting this thread is also a really dickish thing to do.

People have a complete disconnect about litter of all kinds, including balloons. They think ‘someone’ will pick it up. Sometime when I ask people not to leave their lunch remnants in our lane or village playground they are stunned that ‘the council’ won’t come round.

YANBU. They kill animals and it's just another form of littering, however well meant. . The government should ban them so that the onus is taken off grieving families. I don't understand why balloon releases and those lanterns haven't already been banned,

I don't buy balloons at all now, helium or not. I'm trying hard to cut down on single-use plastic. Lots of other pretty decorations around.

@MrsTophamHat

I really thought people had woken up to this too. I know it's often done from a place of pain, but there are other considerate and poignant ways to commemorate something.

I agree. I understand people are upset, but releasing the balloons has the potential to cause pain and suffering other people / animals. Why would you choose to commemorate someone / something in a way that could hurt others.

Yes I read about the baby donkey this morning. So sad.

YANBU. A few years ago an acquaintance of mine organised a balloon release for a local child who died in similar circumstances to Arthur. Lots of people told her on the event Facebook page that balloons were a bad idea, suggested other things such as a candlelight vigil but she ploughed on ahead with the balloons regardless, definitely made me see her in a different light. She wasn't a friend or relative of the child, she just wanted to be seen "doing something". I wish balloon releases would be banned, there are so many less harmful alternatives.

YANBU. It's a dated & irresponsible thing to do.
Much better ways to remember someone.

Is this in relation to little Arthur if so YABSU