Nearly a hundred magenta latex balloons float into the sky, making their way into the atmosphere and eventually back to Earth, only to be swallowed by an innocent seal or dolphin, causing digestive problems and ultimately, a long and painful death.
Each year, American Cancer Society holds a completely unnecessary balloon release in the quad to honor Lung Cancer Awareness Month. This mass form of littering endangers the environment, adding to the several thousands of balloons found on the California coastline every year.
Lung cancer is a terrible disease, but how is letting go of a balloon, something that we were all taught not to do at a young age, going to help spread awareness? Granted, there are notes tied onto the balloon strings that encourage people to quit smoking, but by the time the messages freeze in the atmosphere, break into spaghetti-like shards and land in some obscure part of the world, who’s going to be able to read them?
In addition to contributing to the ever-increasing amount of waste in the world, deflated latex balloons are often mistaken by marine animals to be jellyfish or squid, and consumed, blocking their digestive tracts. There are seven species of sea turtles and all of them are near extinction, with balloon remnants found in the stomachs of dead turtles.
Although latex is indeed a biodegradable substance, it still takes up to six months for it to decompose, and even then, the strings continue to pose the risks of choking or entanglement.
Despite its terrible effect on the environment, the most common legislation states have passed addressing mass balloon releases only prevent tassels and ribbons from being attached to the balloons and limit the number released to 50, which means that 50 balloons can still be ingested into marine animals’ stomachs and potentially kill them.
Current laws regarding balloon releases are much too lax, and if the sea turtles are to be saved, then states need to take a solid stance against these ridiculous events and completely ban them.
Instead of unleashing magenta latex murderers into the environment, American Cancer Society should try and make a direct impact by sending letters of encouragement to cancer patients.
My grandfather smoked until the day he died of lung cancer, and the addictive nature of nicotine is terrifying, which is why we should nip it in the bud and encourage smokers to quit.
After all, I’m sure lung cancer patients wouldn’t want others to kill sea turtles on their behalf.
TCHS School Newspaper