Mylar Balloon Pollution

Here is a guest piece from Dr. Larry Marchinton, professor emeritus from UGA. I picked up balloon fragments on a landowner property this week, so this topic is top of mind for me.

Mylar Balloon Pollution

By Dr. Larry Marchinton

Since the 1970’s, we have been plagued by Mylar balloons. Mylar is made from balloons are made from nylon with a metallic coating.  These balloons may look shiny or colorful with designs on them.  They are not porous and the helium gas in them does not leak out easily, so they can fly very long distances before coming down.  As a result, the balloons end up littering the countryside in forests and pristine places far from where they are released.  These kinds of balloons are ugly and permanent trash and do not disappear because they are not biodegradable.

In other words, they are released as celebratory symbols in densely populated areas but become a permanent blight on places far from the cities and towns where released.  Mylar balloons are terrible trash pollution in otherwise pristine forests, farmland and even wilderness areas.  Unless picked up, they never disappear.

We have 200 acres in Jackson County, Georgia that is maintained for nature and wild things.  It is over 10 miles from any city or town but is littered with deflated balloons–an incredible blight that we cannot prevent.  Huge numbers are falling every year.

 I found on Google that at least 5 states have already made it illegal to release Mylar balloons, although mostly for other reasons such as shorting out power lines and causing fires, chemical pollution and waste of helium (which is a finite resource).

 Georgia should ban them, too!