Balloon littering

[oosik]

The only balloon I've ever seen on my property was a weather balloon and a small weather recording package. I called a number stamped on the package and right away a fellow came out and picked up the entire bundle.

Don't get me started on beer/pop cans & fast food containers along the county road - there is no question, we live in a world inhabited by slobs.

 

[coobie]

All those balloons that float up to the sky do not just disappear - they become litter. Shouldn't people be fined for releasing balloons into the air just like the people who throw trash on the highway?

I hear there going to have 10 cent balloon deposit like beer cans do,LOL.I would worry more about all of the plastic water bottles folks chuck out of there car windows.

 

[Gunny]

I'd gladly pick up what few balloons I've seen around here if I could get someone else to pick up all the fast food trash stuff

 

[jimmyj]

I don't see balloons luckily. What we get is fast food and beer cans and yard waste such as twigs and bags of leaves from the local town and in the summer when our area has a lot of vacationers they often dump their trash in area ditches on their way home from the cottage. Littering to me is such an incredibly ignorant behaviour, I hate it.

I know it is a tangent but we live in a pretty rural area not far off the highway about 1 hour from Toronto which is a pretty big city. There have at least 3 number of murder victims dumped within a few miles of my house. Once the killer even dumped his clothes in the ditch out front of my place. Kind of creepy.

 

[wngsprd]

One of those mylar balloons got stuck in the top of a 70 foot oak on the edge of my woods. Been there for 3 years, slowly deteriorating...picked up one section of it this winter that had fallen. I guess it seems innocent to those that release them, but what goes up does come down.

I've found several others over the years in the fields. I guess it's better than finding dead bodies.

 

[Timm250]

I pick up several of these balloons every year.

I have cattle and the calves are really bad about trying to eat the balloons if they find them.

I am pretty far out from town and the nearest one is only about 2500 people so it surprises me how many times I find one of these balloons.

 

[davesl708]

I get far more trash from the garbage trucks. They use the trucks that pick up the cart and dump it. On windy days(everyday) the trash blows out and they do not get out and pick it up.

I will take the balloons. The mini hot air balloons are a different story. I used to make those out of dry cleaning bags when I was a kid. Good chance of starting a fire when they come down. We use alcohol as the fuel so only burned for less than a minute but still a risk.

 

[txdon]

I see at memorial services on TV a release of a bunch of candle balloons from areas that don't allow fireworks?? I agree with you they are much more dangerous.
We also have calves that like eating colorful balloons.

 

[SimS]

Don;

You should see when those mylar balloons get stuck in a 14400 volt power line! Years ago I was working at a video post production facility when the local florist released some leftover balloons from a unused floral arrangement. They were instantly vaporized and the ionized air/short brought down the circuit for a few hours. My buddy was the superintendent for the local power company and he said he said a single balloon didn't usually cause much trouble but in this case the delivery guy said he released "3 or 4" at one time. That gave the electrons enough material to bridge the gap for enough time to trip/blow the circuit. The owner of the facility was hopping mad. There was just some white dust on the pole and wires and thirty employees standing around with their hands in their pockets.

I find at least one mylar balloon on my place each year. I'm 15-20 miles down wind of town of 13000 so I guess there are few birthdays with runaway balloons.

SimS

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My kids cry when they lose grasp of their balloons, so we don't purposely let them go. We don't buy the mylar type. Only the rubber type. Easily passed by a cow.