mcs balloon awareness campaign

How many times have you attended a charity or school event to witness a balloon launch, and thought nothing of where the balloons have gone? The balloons are launched, float up in the air and eventually disappear from view but not from the environment. Most will burst, but whole balloon and balloon pieces will float back down, causing problems for wildlife.

MCS aims to raise awareness of the impacts of balloon releases with the 'Don' t Let Go!' campaign. click here for further details

In the last year several council have banned or put in place voluntary agreements to prevent mass balloon releases; these include Plymouth City, Lancaster and Tonbridge and Malling.  Other councils that are trying to promote awareness about balloons are Oxford City, Portsmouth and Sunderland.

balloons kill wildlife.

Balloon litter floating at sea is deadly for many marine wildlife species. Marine turtles and some seabirds are particularly at risk, as they feed on prey that floats at the surface. They may mistake floating balloons for their jellyfish prey and swallow them, or become entangled and drown. Once swallowed, a balloon may block the digestive tract and eventually lead to death by starvation. Some whales, dolphins and fish are also known to have died as a result of eating balloons.

A juvenile green turtle washed up at Knott End-on-Sea beach near Blackpool, starved to death in December 2001, after a balloon blocked its gut. A male leatherback in a very poor condition stranded in North Carolina, USA in January 2004. The turtle was euthanased and the post mortem revealed that its gut had been completely blocked by plastic and an intact mylar balloon.

Click here for alternatives to balloon releases

Click here to sign up to our petition to have balloon releases banned under the Environmental Protection Act

"biodegradable balloons"

Most balloons are made from biodegradable latex (rubber), which degrades on exposure to air. A balloon industry-funded study concluded that latex balloons degrade at a rate similar to an oak leaf and cease to pose a threat at about six months. However, further studies indicate that balloons floating in seawater deteriorate at a much slower rate, with some balloons retaining their elasticity after twelve months. However long it might take for balloons to degrade, they can certainly stay intact in an animal’s gut long after ingestion, and long enough to cause death by starvation.

Whether latex balloons degrade in six or twelve months, they persist in the marine environment and stay intact in an animal's gut long after ingestion - certainly long enough to cause death by starvation. The MCS annual marine litter Beachwatch 2006 report, sponsored by the Crown Estate, has shown that the number of balloons and balloon pieces found on beaches surveyed for Beachwatch, has almost tripled from 3.4 items per Km to 10.6 items per Km, as the graph below shows:

Balloons recorded per km surveyed during mcs beachwatch 1996 - 2006