Balloon Releases Kill Animals – Let's End Them!
What goes up must come down.
Make no mistake: Releasing balloons outdoors is littering, and littering kills animals and harms the environment. Despite the risk that balloon releases pose, many events still feature them. You can protect animals by asking venues to cancel planned releases. What are you waiting for? Get started now:
Balloons released outdoors can travel vast distances before finally bursting and falling to the ground or into bodies of water. For example, a balloon released at a University of Nebraska—Lincoln home football game was found on a beach in New York, more than 1,200 miles away. Even biodegradable versions can take as long as four years to break down!
Animals can mistake balloon fragments for food and consume them, which can result in slow death via choking or suffocation.
Land and sea animals have starved to death after their intestines have become blocked by balloon fragments. Wild birds have been found with latex from balloons or strings binding their beaks, necks, and legs. And every year, numerous dolphins, whales, and sea turtles become beached and die after ingesting balloons, which they mistake for jellyfish, one of their regular food sources.
© iStock.com/rmarnoldMarine conservationists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service vehemently oppose balloon releases. The states of California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia, plus many cities, including Baltimore; Louisville, Kentucky; and Nantucket and Provincetown, Massachusetts, have laws banning or restricting balloon releases, and more bills are being introduced.
Schools across the country, including Clemson University in South Carolina, are ditching these deadly displays, thanks to compassionate people who are speaking up to let administrators know that deflated helium balloons and their tangled strings are often found stuck in trees or washed up on beaches, where they pose a risk to animals. But a few other venues need a push to cancel planned outdoor balloon releases.
You can urge them to do just that.
—Take Action Now—
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After you enter your information, just keep clicking the “Send Message” button until you’ve completed them all. Once you’ve taken every action, be sure to share this page with your friends, family members, and social media followers. Encourage them to join you in speaking up about the dangers of balloon releases.