AIBU to be annoyed by people releasing balloons into the environment?

[FluentOP]

Why do some people think it’s ok to release balloons into the environment?

We went to see the partial eclipse yesterday and a group of people released a bunch of balloons so they could get selfies of them floating towards the sun.

The Real Environmental Dangers

• Animal Harm: Birds and sea animals eat the rubber or string. It blocks their stomachs, and they starve.
• Entanglement: Animals get tangled in the ribbons and strings. They cannot move or hunt.
• Litter: The broken pieces stay in forests, parks, and water for a very long time.

It really winds me up that some people are so selfish and entitled 😤😖🤬

I couldn’t agree more with you. There has always been this kind of ignorance, but my god these little pocket filming devices we own have hugely exacerbated the issue

I completely agree.They are also a fire hazard as the foil ones can get caught on electrical wires. People just can't seem to behave sensibly.

Absolutely infuriates me.It's the ultimate act of selfishness .And I don't care if it offends anyone who's released then in tribute to someone. Time they were banned and fined heavily. And I wish our local TV news and papers would stop reporting the vigils where hundreds and released.

There’s often a feeble attempt at justification by announcing beforehand that this floating litter is of the biodegradable variety. I very much doubt it, and even so biodegradable does not mean safe to release; the balloons will not break down quickly - fragments still pose choking and entanglement hazards to wildlife.

I despair at people’s stupidity.

Stupidity

It needs to be banned.

there are so many other ways to celebrate someone’s life that don’t harm, or even that help, wildlife I struggle to see why anyone is stupid enough to keep doing this.

I completely agree with you but someone will be along to say it was worth it because it brought their family joy to release balloons for a loved one so we all just need to suck it up. Whilst they have my absolute sympathy for their loss, I just cannot see how someone’s passing should be marked by causing suffering to animals and littering the planet.

Sheer stupidity to do it OP.

YANBU.

Absolute fucking idiots.
My ds died and I would have been horrified if anyone let off balloons/ lanterns in his name. For an eclipse? Bloody stupid.

A solution is near

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78gqw3w6v5o

Hard agree. And you can add another to your list: Fire hazard - in this extreme weather we have right now, the metallic film on the foil balloons has already started one huge wild fire in Nottinghamshire, after coming down on a power line.

The lanterns
Set off a naked flame
Where it ends up nobody knows
It's all for show and likes.

Stupid beyond belief the fools that do it cant see further than the end of their own nose.

Better. They’d still be litter & dangerous to animals before they decomposed, though.

9 months is still too long when it comes to balloon releases though. It’s still plenty of time to kill animals.

Let off bubbles, or wild seed bombs or any of the other environmentally friendly options available if you want to do something

100% agree. Helium is a finite resource which has better uses than in frivolous bits of plastic that litter everywhere.