Balloons and plastic bags end up int the same place

This is something that many people have probably never thought about but yes so much ends in landfill that should never be there. South Australia still has recycling centres where people are paid 5 cents for every can or bottle that they return and as a result you will seldom see cans or bottles on the roadsides. You can drive along almost any major/busy road in Sout Australia on any day of the week and see people out there with their large (non plastic) bags picking up anything they can recycle. Did you hear on the news this week that the South Australian government have legislated to make it illegal for supermarkets and shops to provide non-recycle plastic bags after January? They will be totally phased out in May apparently. I do not object to that at all but what out plastic garbage bags, lunch bags etc that will still be sold. The other thing is those plastic holders, i.e. the ones that hold the 6 packs together. The clear ones which just go around the tops of the cans and not the wrap around plastic stuff which covers the whole cans. They also end up in landfill and the birds get caught up in them and cannot get out themselves so many up dying zs a resuly. Every type of plastic should have a levy on it so that when it is returned, people get their money back. If they don't return the item, then that money goes to the recycling centres. When people find that it hits the hip pocket, they will start to get serious about doing the right thing.

Hi, You are right,I agree with you.We should protect our environment for ourselves and our baby!

now that is a very good question, guess the law that says it is illegal for an ordinary person to do it, always special occasions and probably a license to those people that send off lots of balloons.

Yes that bothers me also. I am very careful about such things. I am in Real estate and use baloons for open houses. Afyer they are over i dispose of them properly.

Hi lilaclady, Here, here, I agree with you they should all be banned everywhere in all countries, we have to protect our sea life and wild life as if we got to preserve them. Thank you. Tamara

there is really fun in watching magic shows, the amazement that gives to the viewer is really very entertaining.

You know, I've always wondered about the same thing. What goes up is going to eventually come down, even if it doesn't come down where it went up, and even if we don't see it come down. How do we know that the people at whose feet the balloons land are going to stoop to pick them up? In my case, I can't bend over, because I'll lose my balance, but I probably could pick it up on the end of my cane and put it in a trash bin, but why should I have to? Why litter in the first place?

Hello lilaclady. I read about your rant and completely understand you about the topic. I have to say that you are a very careful and environmental-minded lilac lady. I am on your side that we must take good care of our nature and environment. In fact, in my daily life, I try to always make myself a good model to my students in order to help protect our mother nature. Good day, friend.

Hi Lilaclady, You have a really good valid point here. Balloons probably cause as much damage as the litter of bags etc to the world wildlife and sealife and a thing I hadn't really considered. Thank you for making us all aware. It is good to get on your soapbox every now and then isn't especially about something like this. Huggles. Ellie :D

You've just opened up my mind with this topic. It's now that I realized that these balloons released on air are not friendly to environment. Certainly they are going down and its in the sea they will most likely go. Tsk!tsk!tsk! I wish all governments will see the sensibility of preventing the letting off of balloons. I wish we can have more intelligent people in the government that will pass laws that will really protect mother nature. Sad to say that most people in the government are busy with their politics for their own benefits.

Hi there! This is a serious matter. Plastic bags has been a problem in my country. We have a lot of waste and it causes pollution on land and endangering lives at sea. Our government has never fined the people by using plastic bags but are thinking of ways to eliminate its use and its going to be a long term process to totally eliminate plastic bags. But I never thought that balloons can cause the same problems like plastic bags but I agree with you that they will. Maybe the government officials have forgotten the dangers of balloons too if released in the air. It would be hard to eliminate the use of balloons. It has been a part of the business industry and on most celebrations. Maybe the only thing we can do is to do our small part in cleaning our sorroundings and keep on influencing and educating people on proper waste management. Ciao!

I feel you, lilac. I get upset when i see balloons being let off on special occasions. They usually end up in the ocean and the whales and dolphins and other mammals mistake them for jellyfish and eat them. THe chemical in the balloons is bad for them, it affects their lungs and kills them slowly. And people are tolerant of the letting go of balloons thing. Tsk tsk tsk...

Even the government knows that these plastic pollybags and balloons are very harmfull for environment they cannot be recycled . yet there is no completly banned on this .

Its a pathetic law. IF this law is against ur country environmental why u people dont make community against this law. Why ur govt dont take preventive step to change the law. happy my lotting

Good point!!! I never thought of this before cause never really wondered where the balloons all went but they have to go on the land or in the water somewhere and that is the same thing as throwing your garbage out the window. It is true who makes these laws they do not think about what they are sayign. If one is illegal they should both be illegal and it is not the best thing out there casue cats will try to eat balloons and this could kill a cat so it is dangerous to animals too.

I think they need to regulate this too. There are alot of things that need to be regulated to help save our environment. These are some major problems we have now with global warming.

I wrote an article about this very thing....not so much the balloon aspects but how much of our plastic items including plastic shopping bags, toothbrushes, you name are winding up in our oceans, and are killing a lot of marine and bird life as they are attracted to the plastic items thinking it's food....in fact there is an area out in the Pacific Ocean known as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch...You might like to read the article http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1012264/plastic_pollution_in_our_oceans.html?cat=4 {Warning: This is NOT a referral link but a link about an article about plastics that end up in our oceans}