Balloon releasing deemed unsafe and illegal

On July 1 it will become illegal in the state of Virginia to release balloons into the air. The practice has been deemed unsafe for the environment as well as for small aircraft. There will be a $25.00 fine for those caught in the act in the Commonwealth. Other states including California, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, Tennessee, and New York, have also banned this popular activity. In Florida, it was determined that large numbers of balloons that were inflated with lighter-than-air gases posed a nuisance and a danger to the environment, marine animals, and wildlife.

In the Virginia Delegate, Nancy Guy brought up the issue of balloon trash which probably never occurred to those who have been sending them up for decades. I admit, I never really thought about it and assumed that balloons floated off into space and were disintegrated by the sun. I don't ever recall in my life seeing rubbish from balloons that fell from the sky.

A common practice today is to send up lots of balloons during outdoor candlelight memorials for young people who have been murdered. There are also those who release balloons after funeral services or at a cemetery. When our youngest two children were in elementary school my husband worked for the Conference Center of a local hotel. His job was to set up the tables, floors, and stages and take them down when everything was over. After such events, the employees who were working were allowed to make use of balloons and props if they so desired.

My spouse would bring home anywhere from 4 to 8 huge balloons every few months for several years. Sometimes he gave them to me and on other occasions, they were presented to the children. Either way, once the balloons began to deflate we had a ritual that we observed. The children and I went outside and set the balloons free and would shout "To Jesus" because we thought they might make it pretty close to heaven. Never in all of those years did it occur to me that we were contributing to pollution or causing problems for small aircraft. I did at times imagine a jet flying and the pilot looking out to see a balloon passing by.

I think of THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER GOES TO MARS and the song "Floating" which was sung by balloons that were being released. The Toaster trilogy is one of my favorites because I enjoyed watching them with my two youngest and this song always made me wistful. I understand the damage that releasing balloons into the atmosphere can do but I still have many fond childhood memories.

When I was a little girl nobody sent the balloons up on purpose but sometimes they broke from their strings and got away. On other occasions, a child would lose their grip on a string, and scream when the balloon got away. What adult has not had a balloon or two that would fly out the car window or escape from the trunk? I can still see in my mind the crying faces of little boys and girls in real time and depicted on television programs and movies as heartbroken at losing a balloon. I can recall my grandma saying of distressed children that as they cried their faces looked like a bowl of crushed ice.

The song from THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER GOES TO MARS suggests that balloons float forever in and out of sight which is not the case at all. Those of us who enjoyed sending balloons into the heavens will from this point have to rely on fond memories of a time when we did not know any better. From time to time I will probably sing the song from THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER GOES TO MARS, and shed a tear or 2 or 3. This reality has burst my bubble or rather my balloon.

"Oh we're floating, west and east

We go floating, free and released

From the hands that gave us flight

Hands too little to hold on tight

Now we'll float forever, in and out of sight!"