Environmental Win:
Florida Bans Release Of Balloons

     Huge news swept across Florida when Florida Governor DeSantis signed a bill banning the intentional release of balloons.

     Effective July 1, it is now illegal to intentionally release balloons into our environment, with penalties of a littering fine of $150. One-third of the fine would go to the Solid Waste Management Fund grant program. This will help encourage proper waste management in the state. This new bill is also subject to allowing people to pick up litter or perform other labor commensurate to those who violate it.

     This ban applies to all balloons, including biodegradable and photodegradable balloons. Children under the age of six are exempt.

     Even though this may seem like a small step, it is a huge step towards ending pollution directly into our oceans. Florida is a peninsula, essentially surrounded by the ocean. It’s estimated that three billion balloons are sold annually in the United States alone.

     When balloons are released into the air, we know 100% will fall back into the environment. Whether they return to Earth in the ocean or on land, they will return to touch the ground once the helium runs out.

     It can take hundreds of years for these balloons to decompose.

    Balloons released into our atmosphere cause major environmental issues and will most likely eventually end up in the ocean. This is due to the presence of soft and nylon balloons in our ocean and the fact that, over time, these materials will break down into smaller fragments known as microplastics. The strings of these misplaced balloons can often wrap around organisms' limbs and necks, causing them to become entangled in the plastic string, which prevents them from functioning properly.
 
     Plastic ingestion in marine organisms is a huge issue observed immensely due to abundant marine debris. When organisms ingest plastic, they feel full due to the indigestible material building up in their stomach, and they will stop eating and starve to death. Plastic ingestion also has very painful effects on these organisms as the plastic will increase inflammation, puncture organs, and cause interstitial blockages. Occurrences of this have been widely noted throughout the scientific community.

     When released into the atmosphere, balloons are filled with air, which causes them to maintain their circular shape when entering the ocean and float at the surface. This causes many aquatic animals to mistake balloons for a viable food source. Sea turtles are among the most vulnerable organisms that ingest escaped balloons because they look like their main food source, the jellyfish.

     Want to hear something crazy? Balloons are the number one most deadly marine debris item for seabirds. Ingesting balloons was found to be 32 times more deadly than any other marine debris ingested by these organisms. This research examined 1733 sea birds to determine their cause of death, and the researchers found that one-third of the birds had ingested marine debris, the deadliest of which was soft, malleable balloons. This research further expressed that despite soft plastic ingestion being shown only to be 5% of the occurrence, it accounted for 40% of the deaths.

     The cause of death is so high for sea birds ingesting balloons, which could be due to many reasons. When balloons are released, they fly into the sky at the same height as birds soar through the atmosphere. These animals could get entangled in the strings or mistake the balloon as a food source and bring it back down to land to eat. Another reason this could be the case for sea birds is when the seabirds score over the ocean looking for food along the surface, they see a balloon and fly down to inspect the “food source,” getting entangled in the strings and eating it.

     Balloons can be a fun decorative party item, but they have profound negative effects on the environment. There are many ways to eliminate balloons when decorating for festivities. Even though in Florida, they are illegal to release into the sky for direct contact with the ocean, they can still end up in the ocean through improper waste disposal.

     Florida’s government took a major step in combatting the oceanic plastic crisis. If you are in an area allowing balloon releases, advise peers to refrain from partaking. The amount of plastic in our ocean is overwhelming and continues to increase. This is a great step in making sure that an unnecessary act of releasing plastic debris into the ocean, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

     Releasing balloons into the atmosphere should be classified as littering in all areas because plastic litter is entering the atmosphere. We want to stop it at the source of the problem. The amount of plastic entering our oceans every day is extremely worrisome. There are many ways to reduce the amount of single-use plastics you use. Switch to eco-friendly and reusable options. The oceanic plastic crisis is real, and it is happening all around the world.

     Stopping the use of plastic at its source is the most effective way to end this crisis.

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