'Your balloon releases aren't going to heaven'

A balloon seller says she refuses to serve customers who intend to release them due to the environmental impact and danger to wildlife.

Naomi Spittles, 32, from Lincoln, has been trading for eight years and was recently asked to provide 200 balloons for a memorial, but turned the order down.

She has called for balloon releases to be banned nationally: "What goes up, must come down, and they don't go to heaven."

NABAS which represents the balloon and party industry said: "We do not support the release of helium balloons in any way. Whilst it is not currently illegal, released balloons create unwanted and sometimes dangerous litter both on land and in the sea."

According to the Marine Conservation Society, more than 100 local authorities across the UK have banned balloon or lantern releases.

It has become popular for people to release colourful balloons into the sky as a way of promoting a celebration or remembering a loved one.

Spittles said: "I get that people grieve differently but I don't think people realise the impact a balloon release has on the environment.

"By not providing the balloons for this reason at least I know that I'm not going to have contributed to a potential death of an animal."

Kirsty Salisbury, manager of East Riding Coastal Services, was walking her dog on Bridlington beach in Februaryand found "four or five balloons" in one area.

"I've found balloons with animals attached. I've actually found a dead puffin too," she said.

"Puffins are declining in numbers, so it's sad to see their lives end for purposes where they didn't really need to be tangled up."

Salisbury wants to encourage people to plant trees, flowers or bulbs rather than releasing balloons.

Catherine Gemmell, from the Marine Conservation Society said: "Once someone releases a balloon, no matter where they've released it, it could be travelling anywhere."

In 2024, 44% of the Marine Conservation Society's beach cleans recorded balloon litter. The charity said its data since the 1990s showed an increase in balloon litter until 2018, when it reached 69% of the beaches they surveyed.

Evie Button, the RSPCA's senior scientific and policy officer, said: "Deflated or fragments of balloons can be mistaken for food. Ingesting balloons can cause a slow death to wild birds and mammals as well as farm animals, horses and marine life, by blocking the digestive or respiratory tracts, and the attached strings can strangle.

"Even balloons that are classified as degradable are unsafe, as they can take months to break down so still pose a risk."

Lincolnshire County Council said balloon and lantern releases had been banned since 2020.

The policy applies to land owned and maintained by the council, as well as the adopted highway but does not cover air-filled latex balloons or releases on private land.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council said there was no ban on releases but it "was strongly advised against".

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