Gravity. Ya gotta love it, right? It mostly serves our purpose to stay “grounded.”

On the other hand, humans have always been fascinated with the idea of floating through the air by one means or another. And when we personally can’t do that, we make kites and paper airplanes and send them aloft. We also fill balloons with helium which lifts them skyward, accidentally or in a spectacle of celebration. It’s so impressive to see hundreds of colorful balloons released all at once as they softly and silently reach great heights. Great entertainment for us, but disaster for the environment, especially sea creatures, birds, livestock, even pets that ingest them or get tangled in their strings. After all what goes up, must come down.

Latex rubber balloons will eventually break down, but not for many years and not before they are floating on the ocean resembling jellyfish or other aquatic food for hungry turtles, fish, dolphins, and others under the sea or lake. On land, they might become part of a hay bale unknowingly fed to animals.

Mylar balloons now filling the space at the front of the grocery stores, are yet more of a problem for the environment in that they are NEVER going to break down and disappear. “Mylar” is the trademark name for a product made by Dupont/Teijin Corporation, among others. It is metalized polyester, (i.e. coated plastic). Shiny and colorful, printed with fun characters, and yet, deadly when released or discarded. Mylar is also used for such things as juice pouches, candy wrappers, medical supply containers, food storage. All these things end up in the landfill,the water or the roadsides.

They can be recycled if collected and sent to a company called Terracycle where they will be pelletized and turned into decking and outdoor benches. Terracycle has a website worth checking out, but I intend to say more about this good, but non-local, resource in a future article.

Having described the serious downside of balloons and Mylar packaging, is there an upside? Sort of. The up side is that there are fine substitutes if we choose to go with better alternatives for our entertainment and juices. First, let’s pledge to keep our decorations down to earth. Second, realize there are ecologically sound and fun ways to create a festive atmosphere without balloons. A quick look on the internet netted some great ideas made with paper such as easy origami stars or birds or hearts, paper chains, paper or cloth banners, all using scrap paper and recycled cloth. Here’s a few sites I found with tons of ideas:

Buzzing Bubs, Mama Minimalist, Party Kit Network, Reusable Nation, National Geographic Kids.

As for those drink pouches and storage bags, well, somehow we managed before Mylar existed, we likely can do so again.

If you have a tip, question, or suggestion, feel free to send an email to:  features@cmonitor.com.

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