From baby shower to birthday, no big celebration is complete without balloons.
But where once mothers used to inflate multi-colored packs of five and stick some on the front door, it’s no longer really considered a party unless you entered through a giant balloon arch. , which consists of several artistically inflated sculptures.
Celebrities from Millie Mackintosh are at the forefront of the trend and Miley Cyrus to footballers rio ferdinand And Harry Kane.
Should you have the cash to blow up, the sky is the limit, with balloon artists promising to create everything from a bespoke bouquet to a backdrop or bridge.
Decorations for a party like Khloe Kardashian recently threw for her daughter True, three, could cost close to £10,000.
However, there are some more affordable options. John Lewis sells a do-it-yourself balloon garland of over 70 to 200 balloon assembles, starting at just £20.
It’s no surprise that these beautiful, bouncy creations are being churned out all over Instagram.
Yet look behind the wow-factor and the bubble quickly bursts. Like plastic bags, poorly discarded balloons are a terrible pollutant, responsible for killing or trapping animals, adding to the burden of plastic waste in landfills and our oceans, and – in the case of helium-filled Balloons – misuse of precious gases needed in health care.
Rise and shine: Love Islander Amy Hart’s name on balloon wall and lights likely to cost over £500
Soccer(own) star: Harry Kane with wife Katie hosting his gender reveal party under a pastel arch worth at least £175
Airway to Heaven: TV host Rylan Clarke approx £350 . K turns 33 with this sweep of balloons
Thanks a Bunch: Made in Chelsea Millie Mackintosh on Her 30th Birthday in 2019
‘Balloons are a wasteful single-use product,’ says Danielle Vosberg, co-founder of Balloons Blow, a campaign group fighting to raise awareness of specific environmental hazards.
‘Whether dumped away to be garbage or used in arches and displays, they all become garbage, which can kill wildlife and add up to already overflowing landfills.
At a time when most are becoming aware of how we all need to reduce our impact on the environment and create less waste, it is worrying how balloons are still being used by businesses and social media influencers. are.
‘It’s perplexing why anyone would waste money on such a temporary thing these days.’
Over the past decade, environmentalists have worked to highlight the dangers of helium ballooning, with initiatives such as the Marine Conservation Society’s Don’t Let Go campaign resulting in more than 80 local authorities across the UK banning the release of helium balloons on their land. has been put.
Yet just as progress is made on the release of balloons – sometimes to be popularized at monuments or to ‘send a message’ to the sky – flower arrangements are replaced by balloon celebrations.
Presented in this new format, suddenly it seems that the threat to their environment has been forgotten. The way helium balloons are released into the sky, they float for miles before falling back to earth as garbage, if not popped and thrown away safely with household waste. Balloons used in arches can also pose a serious threat to wildlife.
To be totally ripped off: Khloe Kardashian’s daughter True had a third birthday party performance that cost an estimated £10,000. Was
Pregnant Myelin Class £360 . I announced a baby with a big bunch of balloons
Little Mix-er Leigh-Anne Pinnock’s white bridge costs around £650. will be
A 2019 study showed that balloons are the plastic debris most likely to kill sea birds. Of the thousands of birds observed, the leading cause of death was obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract by soft plastics such as balloons.
Marine scientist Lauren Roman, one of the study’s authors, said, “Although soft plastics accounted for only 5 percent of all items, they were responsible for more than 40 percent of mortality.”
‘Balloons or balloon fragments were the marine debris most likely to have died, and they killed almost one in five seabirds that swallowed them.’
Yet surely this is not a risk if the balloons are disposed of responsibly? In theory, balloons can be recycled, and balloons made from latex are biodegradable. In reality, it’s not nearly that easy.
Most recycling services are unlikely to recycle latex or foil variety balloons, while the biodegradable claims of rubber latex balloons, like so many ‘biodegradable’ or ‘compostable’ products, are rather exaggerated.
Still relying on an industry-funded experiment from 1989—done on just six balloons in six weeks—the balloon industry would claim that latex decomposes at a rate similar to that of an oak leaf.
Yet it is a process that can take up to a few years depending on soil conditions.
Golden bubbles: Miley Cyrus partying while swirling champagne from a bottle surrounded by £200 balloons
Party goals: Coleen Rooney with £50 performance when son Cass turns three
Masked fans: This Morning’s Philip Scofield had a 40th birthday surprise for Holly Willoughby in February
And an oak leaf, unlike a latex balloon, isn’t likely to add coloring or other chemicals that would make it take longer to decompose. Nor is an oak leaf likely to strangle an elephant if it accidentally had one for lunch.
Above all, helium, which is used by some balloon architects to lift their ubiquitous arches, says Daniel Vosberg, ‘a limited resource better preserved where it is critically needed’.
While the gas is not a pollutant, it is not sustainable, because despite being the second most abundant gas in the universe, it is comparatively rare on Earth.
We use it to cool MRI machines, to treat asthma and emphysema, and in technology essentials like fiber-optic cables and semiconductor chips.
But don’t feel deflated. Putting a pin in these eco-unfriendly inflatables is just an excuse to redecorate.
Let’s hang bunting to celebrate more sustainable festivals like pinwheels, pom poms, flags, streamers, and banners.
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