Balloon releases have become a go-to way to add excitement and spectacle to celebrations. Big, colourful balloons floating into the sky look magical and carry the hopes or memories of a special event. Weddings, birthdays, graduations, and memorials all use balloons to mark the occasion.
But behind the snap of a photo and the delighted cheers, there are hidden costs. Balloon releases come with heavy environmental, animal welfare, and sustainability risks. Let’s look closer at why letting balloons go is not as harmless as it seems.
Environmental Impacts of Balloon Releases
Releasing balloons might look beautiful for a moment, but after that brief display, problems begin. The consequences reach far beyond the party or ceremony, impacting landscapes, oceans, and animals long after the event fades from memory.
Balloons as Litter: How They Pollute Land and Sea
When balloons come back down, they don’t just disappear. They land miles away, often out of sight, and always out of mind for those who sent them up. Latex and foil (Mylar) balloons stick around for weeks, months, or even years. They litter beaches, forests, parks, and roadsides.
Near the coast, balloons drift out over the water and join the growing piles of plastic debris. They float on the surface or wash up on the shore, often tangled in seaweed or mixed with other rubbish. Once they reach rivers, balloons can travel hundreds of miles and end up in the open sea.
Balloons do not break down quickly.
- Latex balloons break into small fragments that linger for up to four years.
- Foil balloons never fully decompose.
This makes balloons part of the persistent single-use plastics problem. For many environmentalists, seeing bits of balloons stuck in hedges or floating at sea turns a joyful symbol into a sign of carelessness.
Dangers to Pets and Wildlife
Wildlife can’t tell a balloon from a tasty snack. Around the world, animals mistake balloon fragments for food. In particular, endangered sea turtles are drawn to balloons, mistaking them for jellyfish. A floating, see-through balloon looks and moves a lot like a jellyfish – one of a turtle’s favourite foods. Once swallowed, balloons can make turtles and other marine animals sick or even kill them.
Land animals, too, aren’t safe. Birds swoop down to peck at shiny pieces, and grazing animals like cows and deer can also eat balloon bits, thinking they’re edible.
Common victims of balloon debris:
- Sea turtles and sea birds
- Dolphins and whales
- Seals and fish
- Cows, horses, and sheep near rural release sites
- Dogs and cats (if balloon remains blow into gardens or parks)
Balloons are also choking hazards for children (you can’t perform CPR on a child who has swallowed a balloon, it will just inflate inside the throat).
Also don’t release fire lanterns (choking hazards due to metal spikes and fire hazards to wildlife – one recently fell into the enclosure of a German zoo and killed all the animals).
Even kites can slice off wings in the sky, or have strings that tangle. You can buy biodegradable ones from cornstarch, but it’s best not to use them. If you do, don’t fly kites at dusk or dawn (when birds are most likely in flight).
Choking Hazards: Fatal Consequences for Animals
The dangers balloons pose are more than just upset stomachs. For many animals, one bite is all it takes for tragedy. Balloon fragments can block the throat or gut. This causes choking, slow starvation, or deadly infections. Animals caught in ribbons or attached strings can lose limbs or even die from being trapped.
Here’s what can happen:
- Choking: Animals can’t breathe or swallow once a balloon blocks their airway.
- Blockage: Small pieces block the stomach or intestines, stopping animals from eating, digesting, or passing food.
- Entanglement: Strings tangle around wings, fins, beaks, or legs, cutting into flesh and stopping movement.
Even pets are affected. Dogs find and chew balloons in gardens or parks, risking emergency trips to the vet.
Balloon Releases Are Wasteful
Party balloons are quickly used, then gone. But the resources and effort required to make them – and remove their waste – last much longer. A balloon release is a classic example of a single-use item that creates a long-term problem.
Resource Waste and Lack of Recycling
Balloons seem simple, but manufacturing them uses up significant resources:
- Latex balloons use natural latex, a resource harvested from rubber trees. Intensive harvest harms forests, soil, and local wildlife habitats.
- Foil balloons are made with a thin layer of plastic and aluminium, which require chemicals and energy to produce.
Once released, balloons can’t be easily collected. Recycling bins don’t accept most balloons, and even ‘biodegradable’ latex balloons break down too slowly to make a difference. Often, they need industrial composting – something most people don’t have access to.
- Latex balloons are from rubber trees, and take 1 to 4 years to compose (and can’t be recycled).
- Foil (mylar) balloons use plastic and aluminium, which sticks around for decades or longer. And again cannot be recycled.
Bans on Balloon Releases Are Spreading
Many places across the UK and worldwide have banned balloon releases. If you hear of a balloon release, write to your councillor and MP, and inform of the dangers of releasing balloons to all innocent creatures (one released balloon can travel 200 miles, before dropping the ground or ocean).
If you do use balloons, only use them indoors, and secure with raffia, so they don’t float away through open doors and windows. You can deflate them by using scissors at the bottom knot, then securely bin (ideally in a Terracycle box, see below).
Where To Recycle Unwanted Balloons
Take helium gas canisters to household waste recycling. Beforehand, leave the valve open and pierce the cylinder bursting disc (depressed circle).
Some balloon makers say that you can cut up and compost balloons. But writers at The Conversation tried this, and it didn’t work. They ‘composted the balloons’ under proper conditions and found that four months later, they were more or less intact.
The only way at present to ‘get rid of balloons’ already bought, is to get your office or community together, and buy a Terracycle Party Supplies Box.
This is around £100 to £300 (depending on size). But for that, your community gets to ‘get plastic party supplies’ out of your town forever’ so if done well, you would only need one ‘amnesty box’.
When full, you just use the pre-paid label to send the box off, and it’s recycled into other things. The boxes also accept:
- Plastic cutlery
- Party Hats & Glasses
- Costume Masks
- Non-electronic decorations
- Plastic flowers
- Plastic straws
- Plastic ribbons & bows
Sustainable Celebration Alternatives
There are better ways to celebrate moments that don’t involve single-use waste. The answer isn’t to skip the parties but to switch up how we mark these events. Even small changes make an impact.
Recycled Paper Garlands from Scotland
East End Press makes gorgeous decorations printed on thick recycled paper and/or cotton waste with nontoxic inks. Made in India, these are designed to be used year after year, just hang up on the cotton thread. Packed in recycled paper sleeves.
Keep paper decorations away from heat and light. Keep string away from young children and pets. Read our post on keeping pets safe at Christmas.
Don’t use paper decorations in high-moisture areas (kitchens, bathrooms) as it will damage paper and cause ink to run. Use a gentle fluffy duster to clean, to avoid disturbing folds.
The Scottish designer had just returned from a trip to Mexico. Inspired by all the colourful art there, she decided to create inspiring designs, which can be used for garlands.
Pretty Recycled Paper Decorations
This handmade recycled paper decoration is ideal to display around the house or office for special days. The decorations include a cotton hanging thread and are packed in a cotton paper envelope.
Create a party atmosphere or brighten up a gloomy corner of the room, without using plastic (oil) or chopping down trees. Skilfully produced by artisans in India, this looks nice alone or grouped with other colours.
Choose from:
- Small (green)
- Medium (lilac)
- Large (magenta)
Designed and brought to us by a small woman-owned company in Kent. These are reusable too. After hanging using the magnetic enclosure, fold away after use (away from sunlight, to protect colours).
These honeycomb decorations are made from paper. Sold in a choice of sizes and colours, they are hand-dyed to hang up with the supplied string.
They can be used for years, then easily recycled. Sold flat-pack, they unfold into perfect round shapes.
Pretty Bunting (recycled paper or fabric)
Before balloons, people would use upcycled bunting to celebrate (think of street parties, after the end of World War II). Ensure that string or As long as you ensure that string or natural twine is safely disposed of after use.
Keep twine and string away from children and pets, and bin after use (don’t leave it in the garden, as it could tangle and harm wildlife).
Unlike balloons, bunting is made to last for years. You can find some beautiful designs made from upcycled paper, maps, sheet music or fabric. Obviously paper bunting is best used indoors, or else it will disintegrate on rainy days!
Moonie’s Cute Reusable Paper Balloons
Moonie Reusable Paper Balloons are in fun designs. Just fold down to use again. Plastic-free, just blow in the hole that forces the balloons to expand, inflate and form into its circular-shaped character. Then flatten to blown up again next time.
Choose from:
- Whale
- Seal
- Penguin
- Red fish
- Panda
- Raccoon
- Beach Ball
Plant Trees in the Scottish Highlands (memorials)
Trees for Life is a Scottish non-profit that lets you donate, to plant a tree in memory of a loved one (human or animal) in the Highlands. This helps to reduce climate change, and provide essential homes for birds and native wildlife like red squirrels (planting pine trees helps far more than unkindly culling grey squirrels).
If planting trees yourself in memory of a loved one, read our post on pet-friendly gardens (many trees are unsafe near livestock – and some like yew, oak and sycamore are unsafe near horses).
Conclusion
Letting colourful balloons drift away at a special event may feel joyful, but the outcome is often far from harmless. The evidence is clear – balloon releases create litter, threaten wildlife, and waste resources that our planet can’t afford to lose.
With so many creative, meaningful ways to celebrate, it’s time to leave balloons out of the sky and focus on options that bring joy without lasting harm. Choose reusable, compostable, or lasting alternatives, and make your next celebration one that both your guests and the planet will remember for the right reasons.
