US-based environmental group Balloons Blow has been protesting against the US football tradition of holding a mass balloon release at a football game when the home team score their first touchdown.
The time-honoured tradition has slowly fallen out of favour in recent years and now the Nebraskan Huskers are the only team whose fans continue to release balloons during the game.
Balloons Blow has put up a billboard in Lincoln – home of the Huskers – telling Nebraskans to: “Quit littering. Stop the balloon release.”
“Sometimes people who wouldn’t normally litter on the ground don’t think twice about throwing litter into the sky,” said Balloons Blow co-founder Danielle Vosburgh. “Balloon releases are littering.”
The billboard has been up for the last four weeks.
The University of Nebraska initially said that it would not stop its balloon release tradition but that it recognises the concerns and cares about the environment.
“Every balloon released in Memorial Stadium is 100% natural biodegradable latex,” said Leslie Reed, director of public affairs at the university. “In addition, we do not use plastic tabs to tie off the balloons and we use 100% cotton strings.”
Orlando-based Clemson University recently announced that it would be ending its 30-year tradition of balloon releases during its games, following a similar billboard campaign from Balloons Blow.
“We’ve been bugging them for years about it, and finally Clemson has stopped their balloon release,” said Danielle. “They are finally realizing that balloon releases have no place in modern society.”
The Huskers will be opening the American Football season on Saturday 1 September, when the campaign’s true effect will become clear.
