The balloon industry, which prides itself on its proactive stance with regards to education and environmental concerns has responded to recent claims from the University of Tasmania that ‘balloons or balloon fragments [are] the marine debris most likely to cause mortality’.
“BAPIA has publicly stated that it does not support balloon releases and in fact would support a balloon release ban,” states chief executive John Bowler. “However, it is not necessary to ban balloons altogether in order to achieve a safer environment for wildlife. As an industry we are working hard to educate the public about the proper and safe disposal of balloons to avoid any further animal deaths, and we think that the figures in this report bear that out.”
He continues; “Of 1,733 seabird deaths, only five were due to balloon ingestation. While this is five too many, with more public education and understanding we would hope to see this reduced to zero. It is estimated that there are 100 million bird deaths per year (in the USA) from flying into windows. This is not an accurate figure but if we take just 10% of that, it still suggests 10 million deaths per year – yet we don’t hear calls to ban windows?”
Suteesh Chumber, director general of the EBPC also points out that; “Soft plastic packaging, balloon fragments, rubbers and synthetic foams together accounted for only 5.4% of items found, but were responsible for 42% of probable and known mortalities. It is not clear how the report defines ‘soft plastics’ and how it determined that balloons were the actual cause of death. The report mentions ‘ten confirmed or probable’, so it would be difficult to put these down to just balloons if they cannot confirm or distinguish between packaging, foams and balloons.”
He adds; “There has been evidence from a scientific study that already demonstrates marine animals can pass balloons. This industry cares very much for the environment and continues to educate and advocate for consumers to take responsibility to ‘not let go’ and enjoy balloons responsibly. Our initiatives have just been relaunched through a best practice programme and a symbol for all manufacturers to print on their packaging.”
The final word goes to George Oustayiannis, chairman of NABAS and managing director of GO International, who says; “This report highlights what NABAS have been saying from the beginning, in that the demonisation of balloons and the constant attack of our industry is totally unfounded.”
“To believe banning balloons will have any impact on the environment is like turning up to a tsunami with a dustpan and brush and expecting to make a difference,” he continues. “The real issue of balloons and plastics was addressed by NABAS some 30 years ago, and its content is as accurate and relevant today as it was then.”
