Is It Okay to Release Balloons?

A balloon release is a popular way to celebrate or memorialize a person or an occasion. 

But those balloons eventually come back down, polluting our environment and endangering and killing wildlife. They can even cause power outages. For these reasons, many towns and cities have banned the practice, and some states have made balloon releases illegal with fines for those who are caught. 

Animals often mistake the latex or mylar for food and ingest them. Sea turtles, dolphins, whales, fish, and birds have been found with balloons in their stomachs. The strings or ribbons can strangle them, entangle them, or hurt their hands or feet, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

So, what can you do instead? 

To memorialize a person or celebrate an occasion, consider releasing flowers into a stream or the ocean, blowing bubbles, flying kites, lighting candles, or planting a tree. Homemade tissue paper pom-poms are great for pops of color at a party, and they’re reusable. Businesses that want to draw attention or mark an anniversary or sale can consider using flags, banners, streamers, or inflatable dancers.

Want to make a difference by removing litter from the environment? 

The annual Mississippi Coastal Cleanup will be held Saturday, October 17 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The event has been organized and run by the Mississippi State University Extension Service since 2016. You can learn more about this event and register to participate on the Mississippi Coastal Cleanup website.

Even if you don’t live on the coast, you can get involved in the Mississippi Inland Cleanup Program, an expansion of the Mississippi Coastal Cleanup Program aimed at educating, preventing, and removing litter in communities throughout the Mississippi Sound Estuary Watershed.

For more information about Extension’s overall education, outreach, and research program dedicated to litter, visit their website.