A petition has been launched by a concerned member of the UK balloon artist community, calling for the UK government to stop the sale of Zuru Bunch o Balloons Party in the UK.
The petition has been created by Graham Laycock (Absolute Balloony) who believes that the product has a large potential to be misused as could easily be released as a bunch.
The product itself – which is already available in the US and is due to launch in the UK in June – gives the consumer the ability to inflate 40 helium balloons at once. Each one is also automatically fitted with a plastic valve and preattached ribbon.
“This new product is a threat to the environment and goes against all our efforts to educate the public with regards to balloon releases,” commented Graham. “It’s single-use plastic, uncontrolled littering, and potentially poses a great danger to wildlife if the balloons are released with valves and strings attached. It is everything we as artists have spent time trying to prevent.”
“We need to work together showing that those in the balloon industry take as much care as possible to provide balloons and smiles while having the least possible pollution impact on the planet,” he added. “I would like people to sign and share the petition as much as possible if they would also hope to stop Zuru from selling this product in the UK.”
The petition, which can be seen here, was launched just yesterday and says:
‘The UK government is actively trying to stop the use of single-use plastic products, as well as stopping the operation of balloon releases in this country. Balloon artists, along with many other balloon-related companies agree that this is not a good thing.
The government recently proposed the ban of single-use plastics. They are also backing campaigns to ban the release of balloons into the atmosphere which is classed as litter. This product will give those who want to release balloons an open opportunity to do so, without advice against it from balloon professionals.’
