Balloon launches are bad for the environment in several ways, but let’s start with wildlife. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) points out that wildlife can confuse the small, bright pieces of a balloon as food. In a website blog, the agency says:

 
balloons that are released into the air don’t just go away, they either get snagged on something such as tree branches or electrical wires, deflate and make their way back down, or rise until they pop and fall back to Earth where they can create a lot of problems. Many balloons that are not properly disposed of end up in the ocean and along shores, becoming marine debris….Balloons can be mistaken for food, and if eaten and ingested, balloons and other marine debris can lead to loss of nutrition, internal injury, starvation, and death. String or ribbon that is often found attached to balloons can cause entanglement. String can wrap around marine life causing injury, illness, and suffocation.

Balloon launches are bad for the environment in several ways, but let’s start with wildlife. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) points out that wildlife can confuse the small, bright pieces of a balloon as food. In a website blog, the agency says:

 
balloons that are released into the air don’t just go away, they either get snagged on something such as tree branches or electrical wires, deflate and make their way back down, or rise until they pop and fall back to Earth where they can create a lot of problems. Many balloons that are not properly disposed of end up in the ocean and along shores, becoming marine debris….Balloons can be mistaken for food, and if eaten and ingested, balloons and other marine debris can lead to loss of nutrition, internal injury, starvation, and death. String or ribbon that is often found attached to balloons can cause entanglement. String can wrap around marine life causing injury, illness, and suffocation.

Another major problem is marine debris. My University of Georgia colleague and National Geographic Society Fellow Jenna Jambeck is one of the foremost experts on marine debris. Her research group has even developed a crowdsourced App called Debris Tracker. Her group’s website highlights this ominous fact:

Solid waste (e.g., garbage, trash, litter) in the world’s waters, and solid waste that accumulates on the shorelines of waterways, is known as marine debris. Marine debris has been recognized as a form of pollution for over 50 years and is often described as one of the most pervasive marine pollution problems because it is found from the most remote beach locations to the most visited beaches throughout the world.
 

- All information from Forbes Magazine