Balloons can liven up a party, graduation, or birthday. However, helium filled mylar and latex balloons are released into the sky by the thousands every day. Mylar balloons and their ribbons go up and get tangled into power lines, causing power outages and even fires due to their metallic coating. Utility companies such as SDGE in San Diego have recorded over 500 outages in the last 5 years, and plead with their customers to not release balloons!  

After release, these helium filled balloons continue on their way and descend into the ocean, deserts, forests, and mountains. In the ocean, they kill thousands of marine wildlife, such as sea turtles, who mistake the colorful balloons for edible food which end up blocking their digestive tracts, starving them slowly to death (including so called biodegradable balloons). Thousands of mylar balloons also float several hundred miles east and end up in the remote desert posing threats to desert tortoises and other wildlife. I find these balloons and their strings and ribbons littering and tangled up in cacti and other plants in pristine areas of desert on a daily basis. Surfers find these balloons littering the beaches and oceans daily. Hikers find them in the mountains. The balloons over time break down into harmful microplastics. 

These "lighter than air" balloons use Helium, a finite resource which has important applications in science and medical equipment, and is not a renewable. 

This does not have to be this way. Air filled balloons on sticks or other alternatives can do the same job of making events more festive without floating up into power lines or into the desert and ocean. 

Please sign this petition if you are in favor of a helium filled balloon ban!