On Consumerism: The twilight of the balloon era

By Arthur Vidro
Folks in Delaware can no longer intentionally release balloons into the sky, under a law Gov. John Carney signed on Friday, Sept. 17. Releasing four or fewer balloons is littering and can mean a fine of $25 or more. Releasing five or more brings a fine of $250 and up to eight hours of community service for the first offense.

Delaware is not alone in cutting down on runaway balloons.

In mid-July, Rhode Island banned the release of large numbers of balloons, in a move to protect wildlife. Violators will face a fine of $100 when the new rule takes effect in November.

Legislators in Maine passed a bill in June banning the intentional release of many balloons, and sent the measure to Gov. Janet Mills.

Note that none of the above restrictions concerns using balloons indoors. Also, if you blow up your balloons with lung power, then you won’t be penalized.

The laws concern only outdoor balloons heading into the sky. Because what goes up, must eventually come down.

I’ve never understood the desire to release balloons skyward. I suppose it’s akin to shooting off fireworks – another activity whose appeal eludes me.

Balloon releases have become far more common in my lifetime. For instance, now they’re released to announce the gender of a not-yet-born baby. In my time, we didn’t know ahead of time the gender and thus had no reason to celebrate the knowledge. We merely waited for the birth. And we were content.

But now, because technology allows for identifying a newborn’s sex ahead of time, using that technology has become a trend.

There’s nothing wrong in using technology to discover information, even if the information would have come to light eventually on its own.

Yet for some reason, the discovery of such news is now the basis for parties that seem to compel people to release balloons.

If revealing a baby’s sex is desired, it can be done without releasing any balloons heavenward.

Balloons technically might differ from plastics but they share many attributes. Both substances are made of artificial materials that do not readily decompose. They create litter. They harm wildlife, especially when the wildlife – on land or at sea – ingests them.

The nation was improving its efforts to limit the use of unnecessary plastics, but then along came the pandemic.

Because of what now is viewed as baseless though understandable fears, single-use, disposable plastic bags became the norm throughout the pandemic-riddled land in 2020, and sometimes was mandated by law.

Thus progress in the world of plastics reduction was set back.

But now we can acknowledge that the COVID-19 virus, as horrible as it is, tends not to be spread via containers of any sort.

So the pendulum is swinging again toward limiting plastics.

In Anchorage, Alaska, as of early September a ban on plastic bags was back in force in the city after a suspension during the pandemic, Alaska’s News Source reports.

Colorado will ban single-use plastic bags and polystyrene food containers, starting in 2024, under a law signed by Gov. Jared Polis in early July.

Back in Maine, a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags began July 1 after two pandemic-related delays of legislation passed in 2019. The ban had originally been set to take effect on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The first delay pushed the date back to Friday, Jan. 15, 2021.

In Baltimore, the city periodically keeps delaying the implementation of its ban on single-use plastic bags. The Baltimore Sun reports retailers now have — well, had — until Friday, Oct. 1, to comply.

In New Jersey, legislation banning single-use plastic bags and plastic foam containers goes into effect in May 2022.

Plastic bag usage is being reduced. It might be a long time, though, before they are fully phased out. (I’m old enough to remember we got along just fine before plastic bags started being used, and we can get along just fine again without them.)

Plastic utensils will be the next likely candidate for major changes. I’m not sure what will take their place. But people will adapt. They’ll still have containers of some kind, and utensils of some kind.

But the biggest mind-set adjustment will be with balloons. As the bans spread, people will be at a loss for how to express their joy or grief without balloons. What other way can they express themselves? (Me, I use words. But that’s not visual enough for many people.)

Plus, helium is a resource. The past few years have brought us sporadic helium shortages and escalating prices. Using helium for a self-indulgent balloon release is a squandering of that resource.

It will be a long process to wean ourselves off the needless use of helium balloons. And some uses will still be needed, such as for weather balloons.

We’ve taken only a few small steps, but at last we can see the twilight of the balloon era.

Arthur Vidro is one of the Eagle Times’ recurring financial columnists. His “EQMM Goes to College” appeared in the May/June 2021 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.