British balloons killing wildlife here and in Europe
BALLOONS released in Britain are killing birds and sealife here and across the North Sea, campaigners have warned.
Beaches in Europe are littered with thousands of deflated balloons – many of them from this country – and they’re having a devastating effect.
With plastic stoppers and strings attached, they are another example of our carelessness in contributing to the toxic debris in the oceans.
On the Dutch coastline, campaigners say about 13,000 balloons are washing up every week. Embarrassingly, many of them appear to have travelled across the North Sea from Britain.
Logos on the balloons include a charity bike ride in Birmingham, a hospice in London and a car dealership in Southport. Thousands are given away with McDonald’s Happy Meals.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to turn the tide on plastic, with a Government report last week saying plastic pollution in the sea is set to treble in a decade unless marine litter is curbed.
Anti-plastic campaigner Danique Mulder says there is a steady flow of balloon debris from the UK to the Netherlands with every westerly wind.
On just one two-mile stretch of beach next to a national park, she finds about 100 balloons a week.
Balloons tend to be made of latex, which is naturally biodegradable, and they eventually break down and decompose in landfill sites. But in the ocean, they can take more than a year to decompose. Fish and marine animals mistake them for food, and the balloon blocks their digestive tracts, meaning they starve to death.
Balloons on beaches are also a problem in this country, with Plymouth banning mass releases in 2007 because of their effect on wildlife.
Engineer Jason Alexander, 47, from Ipswich, makes up to three trips a week to pick up litter from beaches in Bawdsey, Suffolk.
He said: ‘The balloons are a big issue, and we see a huge amount of promotional ones: McDonald’s Happy Meal balloons, other fastfood restaurants, estate agents, car dealerships, things like that.
‘I found 14 in a day last week and the most I have found in a day is 24. The thing with balloons is they can end up miles and miles away from where you let them go.
‘It’s all a horrible eyesore and so bad for the environment. It’s a never-ending job, I run out of bags and then when I come back there’s even more than when I left.
‘It’s going to take a big effort from a lot of people to reverse all the damage.’ Tony Juniper, executive director of campaigns at WWF, said: ‘Balloons look lovely floating up in the sky, but eventually they come back down to earth.
‘Many also have plastic stoppers and string attached to them that end up in our rivers and seas, where they can kill wildlife like turtles and birds, who mistake them for food. By 2050, unless we act now, there may be more plastic in the sea than fish.’
Gibraltar has ended its annual release of thousands of balloons on National Day over concerns about the environment.
Julian Kirby, plastics campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: ‘Many people release balloons without realising how harmful they can be. As soon as these balloons float off, they become pollution which can cause significant injuries to wildlife.
‘If people want to use balloons, they should be careful to fix or hold on to them securely so they don’t float away, and dispose of them properly after use.’
‘Horrible eyesore’