People release balloons for many reasons - in memoriam, in celebration, or to raise awareness. Would people participate if, instead, they were asked to dump cigarette butts or plastic bags in our waterways for the same purpose? Of course not! But in reality, the actions are the same. We’re asking the Queensland Government to make this reality clear, by banning the release of helium balloons.

The Waste Reduction and Recycling Act (2011) includes regulations prohibiting general littering. Yet currently the mass release of helium balloons is seen as an acceptable activity to raise awareness or mark occasions, despite the fact that all balloons return to the earth and to our waterways while they still may cause danger to wildlife.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society estimates around 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals around the world are killed every year by plastic rubbish in the oceans.

Balloons are one of the more common forms of trash found in our waterways, and they pose a serious threat to wildlife. There are many confirmed findings of dead or dying turtles and seabirds who have become entangled in tie-strings, or have suffered slow, painful starvation after balloons or balloon fragments have become caught in their digestive systems.

Most balloons are made of Mylar (a plastic) or latex (synthetic or natural rubber). Balloon-makers like to recommend latex balloons as an eco-friendly solution, and say these balloons “degrade as quickly as an oak leaf.” What they don’t mention is that the study they’re quoting is non peer-reviewed, has never been replicated, and was actually written for and by the National Association of Balloon Artists, in the USA. The study also doesn’t mention that oak leaves degrade slowly. Latex may take 6 months or more to degrade – even more slowly in water! That’s a lot of time to drift around and pose hazards to our precious marine life.

Balloon debris also contributes to unsightly trash on our beaches and river edges. In the months after the flooding event of 2011, for example, hundreds of balloons (whole or in fragments) and plastic balloon tie-strings, were found washed up on the western side of Moreton Island, part of the trash from the South-East Queensland catchments.

There are many beautiful alternatives to releasing balloons - alternatives that are creative (flying kites), last longer (re-usable tree lights), or are equally beautiful (floating flowers). Queenslanders are up to the challenge of re-thinking their events in order to keep our state beautiful!