Tag: balloon

May 27th – I guess a lost balloon is a reflection on the sadness of things, and that woeful feeling of loss a child develops when something is gone for good.

But it’s also a symbol of pollution.

I see lots of balloons as I ride around – town or country trapped in hedges, trees, verges, fields and scrub – and also in the canal. Eventually, it will deflate, and lurk, another piece of plastic detritus waiting to choke the wildlife and add to the building polymer poison time bomb.

I know it’s not a popular view but I wish these things we rarer.

September 28th – Conservationists and birders in particular keep banging on about helium balloons, balloon releases and Chinese lanterns. These are serious issues, and here’s why. At Chasewater, balloons have escaped from somewhere, and been blown into this scrub at the side of the lake, well out of reach. They will gradually deflate, and the remaining material will either be blown off and drop in the lake, or hang there waiting to be collected by birds. Birds will choke on balloon remnants, as will fish. Being synthetic, they won’t biodegrade, and will continue to foul the ecology for years if uncollected. I see lots trapped in this way in country hedgerows and on urban commons and greenspaces.

Balloon releases are sponsored littering. Nothing more, nothing less.