This time on BMTV we are talking about a very hot and contested subject, balloon releases. Some people still support balloon releases while others are calling for bans and the debate has been raging for a while now. We sat down with John and Sue Bowler, who are both corner-stones in the balloon world and went through the topic with them.

John and Sue have around 50 years’ experience between them in the balloon industry and have held jobs such as distributor, trainer and balloon decorator. John is the chief executive of the industry organisation known as BAPIA, who recently issued a survey of it’s members as to whether they would be in favour of a ban on balloon releases, the results came back and the answer was yes. BAPIA then issued the statement that they were no longer in support of balloon releases and would be in favour of a balloon release ban. They have also put up a statement on their website that they encourage anyone to take this statement and display it in their shop window to spread the word about balloon releases and the impact they have on the environment.

You can find BAPIA’s statement here

The main argument against balloon releases is that they are littering and even though latex balloons are biodegradable, there have been calls for total balloon bans as a result of the impact balloon releases have. This is largely due to miss-information and a total balloon ban would be devastating for out industry. Pioneer Europe have already come out and said don’t release any type of balloon, as have the European Balloon and Party Council and PEBA in Australia.

PEBA’s Website

The EBPC Website

There are many arguments and evidence for both sides but it is irrefutable that balloon releases are littering. This big issue is that they simply aren’t considered acceptable with members of the public and there have been numerous cases of backlash against balloon companies for running balloon releases and we just don’t think it’s worth it!

Rob

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