For every memory of a party during my childhood, there is also a memory of balloons. They were simply a big part of it and I think most people have a similar memory. Balloons were fun and they gave that party feeling. What I did not know back then was that the balloons were going to form part of a very serious issue for the environment decades later.

During the years of doing clean-ups I have met thousands of people. Up until now I still meet people who do not understand the issue with helium balloons, and even less the consequences of balloon releases.

I admit that it took even me years before I started to really think about this, and it took an even longer time to fully understand the issue with the so-called good biodegradable balloons. Let me take this opportunity to make one thing clear - there are no good balloons.

Before we get to the issue I want you to imagine a square in Valletta. A person goes to the middle of the square, takes out 500 balloons that aren’t inflated and throws them to the ground. What do you think would happen to him?

Let's take a closer look at balloons and the environment before answering that question. In the past decade clean-up surveys have shown that balloon findings have nearly tripled. There are several different types of balloons, but they all have one thing in common. When they end up in the sea, they risk causing death for the marine life.

Do you only use good biodegradable balloons for your parties? The industry is adapting to our demands, but this doesn’t mean that the industry is doing the right thing. Money will always blur the line between right and wrong.

You should always question under what circumstances a biodegradable product, not only balloons, actually biodegrade. A balloon does not biodegrade in sea water - it needs a proper facility to do so. It degrades (turns into thousands of pieces), but after many years. So from the moment it lands in the sea until is degrades, there are plenty of sea turtles, sea birds or fish that can mistake it for food. If they won't choke to death, they will starve because they won't feel hungry with the balloon in their stomach.

We have all seen the photos circulating on the social media. Photos of some dead sea turtle entangled in plastics are usually met with a sad emoji. But somehow it stops there, as if the sad emoji will solve world issues.

How many of us actually realise that our daily choices affect the innocent marine life? How many actually see the full picture and the fact that we are the ones that can turn this around?

Yesterday I walked my dog along Msida/Pieta marina and there it was, the plastic soup. Main ingredients: plastic caps, plastic bags, plastic q-tips and as well balloons. They are supposed to be connected with something fun, but when I saw them floating in the sea they were giving me something far from pleasure.

During an event in Malta by a big organisation some year ago, hundreds of balloons were released and I was one of many who criticised it. I was told “What's the fuss about? It's just a balloon.”

I can bet that none of those persons had ever taken part in a clean-up.

That's the beauty of clean-up events. They don't only make places clean, they educate people hands-on and make people realise how big the issue is and how hard it is to clean up a mess that is created in seconds. There is no such thing as “just a balloon."

These are things that can cause a very painful death to marine creatures, especially the ribbons that often come attached to them. Not so fun anymore, right?

Remember my question about the person going to the square, spreading hundreds of non-inflated balloons? I think we would all agree that that person would be promptly arrested and named and shamed online. The police would refer to the Maltese law forbidding littering.

So how come it is legal when hundreds of balloons are released and end up in the sea? Am I missing something here?

The one fundamental thing about balloon releases is that ‘What goes up, must come down.’

Unfortunately it seems that this is OK for many people as long as the litter does not fall in their own back yard.

We only have one earth and it doesn't matter where those balloons land. They will find their way back to us and the few seconds of joy they gave will under no circumstances justify the deaths they cause when released.

 

Camilla Appelgren is an environmentalist