Balloon releases are very common celebratory events. They occur during weddings, graduations, memorials, holidays, and other events. However, they pose a major threat to the environment. Cases where balloons enter the environment and become a detriment to wildlife, is, well, ballooning.
A study done by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research, concluded that balloons along with plastic bottles and plastic bags are considered to be the top three most harmful pollutants. Despite the harm balloons and their components present, they continue to be found littering beaches, rivers, lakes, oceans, as well as forests, farmland, and other green spaces.
Balloons are commonly mistaken for food items by fish, birds, and turtles in particular. Sea turtles have been known to confuse balloon fragments as jellyfish, one of their primary prey items. Ingestion of balloons can lead to loss of nutrition, internal injury, starvation, and death. Turtles who ingest balloons have been documented choking on balloon fragments or dying due a blocked digestive tract and starvation. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study published in 2019 stated, “balloons are the single deadliest form of marine plastic for seabirds”. The same study found that birds that ingest balloon fragments are 32 times more likely to die compared to ingesting hard plastics. Furthermore, wild horses on Assateague Island have been documented eating balloon fragments as have livestock such as turkeys and cattle.
The strings attached to the balloons pose another threat to wildlife as well. The string attached to the balloon is known to cause entanglements which can lead to injury, illness, and suffocation for wildlife. According to a 2016 article published in Marine Policy, balloon debris is the third most dangerous fragmented pollution item behind fishing lines and plastic bags. The study claims this is due to balloons tied to long strings can easily entangle or choke wildlife.
A survey conducted by the International Coastal Cleanup program over a nine-year period along the U.S. coastlines found an average of 31,000 balloons on U.S. beaches each year. Researchers in Virginia collected over 11,400 balloon pieces between 2013 and 2017. On a beach on Victoria's Phillip Island 10 different balloon fragments are collected per month on just one kilometer of beach.
Not only are the balloons dangerous but they can travel incredible distances at a fast rate. In 2013 a balloon release in Derby, England released 300 balloons some of which were found in Denmark and the Netherlands as well as one that traveled an incredible distance to New South Wales, Australia, 10,545 miles away. Another example is balloons traveling from Dayton, Ohio to Queen Anne’s County of the Eastern Shores of Maryland - more than 400 miles. According to NOAA a balloon released at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, landed in Los Angeles just 49 hours later, a distance of approximately 5,300 miles.
Fortunately, there are solutions to the balloon debris problem. The first would be to seek alternatives or skip the use of balloons. Another solution would be to call for policies and laws that restrict or eliminate the use of single use plastics including balloons. This has been done in five states including California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia have all passed laws prohibiting the release of balloons to protect the environment and wildlife. Cities such as Toledo, Ohio, Provincetown, Massachusetts, Wrightsville, North Carolina, and New Shoreham, Rhode Island have also passed laws prohibiting mass balloon releases as well. Clemson University recently ended their tradition of releasing 10,000 balloons before each football game after pressure from environmental groups.
Therefore, the Houston Sierra Club is calling on you to petition Mayor Sylvester Turner to ban balloon releases in the city of Houston. After Turner participated in a balloon release celebration, we think the City of Houston should consider the impacts that balloons have on the environment, from our country meadowlands northward to the pristine Galveston coastline to the South. We urge you to write Mayor Turner calling for an end to balloon releases in the City of Houston, citing their egregious impacts on wildlife.
By Alex Paul