Funeral balloons threaten turtles

Ann Hunt

From a letter to the Institute

I am all in favour of 'Green' funerals. However, I feel I must take issue with what I (and many others) feel would be a tragedy as far as our environment is concerned. This is the use of a balloon release as part of a funeral.

'Turtles tend to confuse balloons with jellyfish, eat them, and die'

With regard to the marine environment in particular, balloons are a disaster. Turtles, for example, tend to confuse them with jellyfish, eat them, and die as a result. They can also contribute towards the problem of litter generally, both on land and in our seas. So it hardly seems to be very 'Green' to release them in the first place. The fact that the materials from which balloons can be made these days break down more readily is not really much of an answer - the damage could well be done before that happened. It is too great a risk to take if we wish to protect our environment.

Ann Hunt, Danegeld, Walford, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR9 5SA.

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