Sky Lanterns are Not a Sustainable or Green Alternative to Balloons In the wild, it’s only a matter of time until the balloon becomes the last meal of a hungry bird, turtle, or other animal. Balloons are made from latex processed with dyes, plasticizers and other chemicals.Īs these photos show, balloons take years to fully decompose. You may have found information that latex balloons biodegrade, “as quickly as an oak leaf.” This would be true if balloons were made from 100 percent natural latex, but they’re not. Fish and Wildlife Service posted disturbing images of dead wildlife to their website in an effort to convince people to stop releasing balloons. Soft plastics represented just five percent of the debris ingested, but caused 40 percent of deaths. Researchers at The University of Tasmania examined more than 1700 deceased seabirds and found nearly one in five died from ingesting a balloon or balloon pieces.More than 270 experts recently rated balloons as one of the major threats to marine mammals, seabirds and turtles. They break into smaller and smaller pieces until they turn into microplastics, which are consumed by fish, birds, turtles and other wildlife. After guests disperse and other decorations have been packed away, the balloons and lantern frames that created a few moments of happiness will litter the surrounding area for months or even years.īalloons, sky lanterns and plastic confetti aren’t recyclable and take years to biodegrade.
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Balloon releases and sky lanterns are a familiar sight at festivals, weddings and memorials.