Think Before You Let Go: the Dangers of Releasing Balloons

I was asked by Emma Websdale, creator of "Rants for Change", if I wanted to film a 2 minute rant on a subject I am passionate about and want to see change in. Now, there are a whole host of areas that I would very much like to see changes made in so it took me some time to decide which one to focus on but in the end, I went with helium balloon releases. You can watch the video below but there is a whole lot more I have to say on this subject, so do please read on!

Unbelievably, releasing balloons is not currently classed as littering because they're not being directly dropped on to the ground. That to me sounds like the most ridiculous piece of legislation, as if whoever passed it forgot that such a thing as gravity exists on our planet and, as the old saying goes, "what goes up must come down". The Marine Conservation Society is one of the organisations working hard to get this changed and to ban all intentional releases of balloons and paper lanterns in the UK. I think there is a lot of ignorance surrounding this issue, particularly when it comes to the biodegradable aspect.

A quick Google search for biodegradable balloons brings up producers claiming that their latex balloons are 100% natural and will break down within six months or "as fast as an oak leaf in your back yard". Six months is a long time and leaves a huge window of opportunity open for wildlife to consume the latex debris. Just because the balloons explode into tiny particles at a particular altitude does NOT mean they instantly become harmless to animals. Those particles, however small, have to land somewhere and wherever that is, there will be some form of living creature drawn to the colours of the pieces and tricked into consuming them.

It's a sensitive subject when the occasion being marked with balloons or lanterns is the passing of a loved one. Understandably, families and friends want to do something special and memorable to say goodbye to the deceased but is the best way to do that really by organising a mass-littering event? When it comes down to it, that's all a balloon release is. Just because the objects are going up instead of down doesn't change the outcome. As I say in my video, people may as well dump a whole load of plastic on the ground and walk away because that's where the balloon debris will end up eventually, a tempting yet deadly meal for some unsuspecting animal. I'm certain no loved on of my mine would want to be remembered in this way.

A balloon release marking the vicitims of Shoreham air crash in August www.itv.com 

Perhaps grieving communities could be partially forgiven. However, huge corporations can in no way be pardoned. ITV's popular talent show The X Factor is one such example of a company that should know better. To mark the first episode of this year's series back in August, the show televised a mass-release of red balloons. I actually haven't watched the show for a couple of years but I just happened to catch a clip of this balloon release online and thought it was a new thing they did this year. After some more searching, I came across the below clip posted on YouTube which was filmed at the Birmingham auditions two years ago, suggesting that hundreds of balloons are being let loose by the X Factor team in each of the audition cities every year. That equates to thousands of balloons. 

 

Around 7.6 million people watched the opening episode this year and a huge percentage of viewers are teenagers and young adults who follow along with the events of the show eagerly each year. In my mind, the ITV and show's producers are are extremely irresponsible to give off the impression releasing balloons like this is acceptable. They should be showing consideration for the environment and setting an example, not completely disregarding the science that categorically states any form of litter poses an enormous risk to the natural world.

So let's talk about what those risks actually are. As I mentioned earlier, a latex balloon takes six months to biodegrade. That gives wildlife around 180 days to eat the fragments that drop to the ground. Plenty of time to do plenty of damage. Obviously plastic and latex contain absolutely no nutritional value for animals, so the energy they expend consuming the materials is wasted. Some animals don't even get as far as swallowing the remnants; instead, they get pieces tangled around their mouths and beaks, preventing them from eating anything at all and resulting in them starving to death, a truly horrific way to die. 

The ribbons are just as bad as the balloons themselves as these can get wrapped around feet, rendering the animal helpless, and often they struggle so much to get free that the ribbon eventually cuts into their skin, giving them nasty wounds that can lead to limbs becoming partially or wholly detached.  Balloons don't only have an effect on the terrestrial environment. Those fragments that don't land on the ground end up in the ocean where marine mammals, such as seals and turtles, and seabirds will eat them. It is estimated that 90% of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs. That kind of statistic is sickening and shows just how much of an impact we humans have on wildlife.

www.balloonsblow.org

I am grateful that, so far, I haven't come across any injured or dead animals during my beach clean ups. That being said, I have picked up countless pieces of balloon and ribbons from Worthing beach and I have wondered what damage the missing pieces have done elsewhere. These occurrences are 100% preventable if the people responsible for organising releases put an end to any future events. There are many other ways to mark special occasions or to show you are thinking of a loved one, without causing any damage to the natural world. 

Many councils across the UK have already banned balloon and paper lantern releases on their land. However, there are still many, many more that have yet to do so. Click this link to see if your council has already banned the release of balloons and lanterns and if they haven't, get in touch with them, via Twitter, Facebook or email, to ask them why and persuade them to reconsider. My council isn't on there, so I intend to get in touch and voice my opinion. I hope you will do the same. 

Great British Beach Clean in Goring

There have got to be worse ways to spend a Saturday than strolling along a beach in the blazing sunshine while looking after the environment at the same time. For me, it doesn't get any better. Today was my beach clean up event for the MCS Great British Beach Clean weekend. I have held two other clean ups at this beach this year and I was fortunate enough to have fantastic teams of volunteers for both. Today's team was no exception!

In total, there were 25 of us scanning the length of the survey area, including five under-18s. I'm always extremely pleased to have young people taking part in these cleans, particularly when I see that they are enjoying themselves. Getting children and teenagers interested in their environment is absolutely vital and events like these are a brilliant way to make learning about nature into something fun and engaging. Of course, I love to have volunteers of all ages taking part! I spoke to several of the adults helping me today who all expressed amazement at what gets washed up on the shores and dropped by the public. It fills me with hope whenever I come across people who care as much as I do about looking after our planet.

As there were so many of us, it didn't take us long to cover the 100m survey area. Much like the clean I did back in June, there wasn't a massive amount of litter to be collected, not in terms of weight anyway. Generally, Goring-by-Sea is a pretty clean beach from first glance but once you really start looking closely at the pebbles and in between the groynes, all of the small pieces of twine, fishing line and plastic start appearing. One of the teams recorded a large piece of carpet, which we were all hoping had not been used for disposing of anything untoward! The same team also found a large, plastic receptacle that looks as if it was used as a marker buoy. I picked up my first shoe; it was a Croc, so no great loss there! (Please don't take offense if you're a Croc-wearer! Each to their own...)

The last time I was down at Worthing, I nearly got blown off my feet by the strength of the breeze so I came prepared today with my rain mac. I would have been better off dressed in a swimming costume I think, so I could have had a quick dip in the sea to cool off! It was absolutely roasting today and there was quite literally not a breath of wind. I'm certainly not complaining but it was most unexpected, especially after the lack of summer we've just had. 

Several of my volunteers expressed interest in the results of our collection and what the data gets used for, as well as when I will be holding future events. Beach-cleaning is such a great way to not only do some good for the environment but also to get some fresh air and exercise. Living on a small island as we do, none of use are ever too far away from some form of coastline and if we could all pick up litter each time we visited a beach, it would make the world of difference. 

The results from today's clean were as follows: 

-32 metal items

-32 sanitary items

-38 paper items

-20 wood items

-539 plastic items

-21 rubber items

-32 cloth items

30 Days Wild Day 17: How Volunteering Has Helped Me

I've decided to something a little different for my random act of wildness today. I'm currently in the process of looking for my next volunteering role since the end of the Chi peregrine project is approaching and I want to make sure I have something lined up to fill the space. My search has left me thinking a lot about the volunteer work I have done so far and how it has affected my life.

As some of you may know and most probably don't, I've been self-employed since 2012, working from home as a pet portrait artist. This wasn't what I had originally planned to do, it was purely by chance that I fell into it, but in two and a half years I have had a steady stream of clients, both new and returning, and it has provided a way for me to earn some money while figuring out what direction I want to head in. In Autumn 2013, I applied for the role of volunteer retail assistant at the RSPB Pulborough Brooks nature reserve, partly because working from home can be very isolating and I felt I needed to have some form of interaction with the outside world, but mainly because I had developed a keen interest in wildlife while dabbling in bird illustrations and I wanted to explore that interest further.

I've always been a relatively shy person, particularly when I'm meeting people for the first time, as I'm sure many others are. When I started at Pulborough, I had this shyness and coupled with this, I struggled with anxiety that I had developed when I was at university, something that I still have although I'm learning to control it, and that anxiety used to make it very hard for me to venture outside of my "comfort zone" and try new things. So as you can imagine, despite the fact that I had worked in retail before, applying to Pulborough took quite a bit of courage.

Since the charity relies on the generosity of busy people giving up their time for free, volunteers are valued extremely highly by the RSPB, as I'm sure they are by other organisations too. From day one at Pulborough, I was made to feel very welcome by all staff and fellow volunteers. My role is a varied one, involving general retail work, membership recruitment, giving advice and information about wildlife and talking about the RSPB's work. It's been over a year and a half since I started there and in that time, I have noticed myself becoming more confident in many respects, particularly when it comes to talking to the public.

Up until the beginning of this year, my role at Pulborough was the only extra work I was doing alongside my commissions. I have spent a long time trying to figure out what I really want to do with myself and ultimately what kind of impact I want to make. At the end of 2014, I realised that I want to be doing something that can truly make a difference, no matter how small, and have a positive impact on the natural world. I had picked up a lot of new knowledge about nature while at Pulborough and it had only peaked my interest in working within the field even more.

2015 has been all about me setting the wheels in motion to make this change. My entire academic foundation is in the arts as that was the field I had originally intended to work in, so I was starting with basically nothing to go on. I knew I needed to get experience by doing further volunteer work as well as venture back into the land of studying. Of course, as I've mentioned already, having anxiety makes it all kinds of difficult for me to reach out to people and start new ventures. I decided I was not going to let that hold me back this time and I gave myself the motto of "Be Brave" to be repeated in my head whenever I was too afraid to do something.

My volunteer work for the Marine Conservation Society as a Beachwatch organiser has been particularly helpful in my quest to banish my anxiety. For someone who has always hated public speaking of any kind and still struggles with shyness from time to time when faced with strangers, organising events and being in charge of people I've never met before seemed like an absolutely mental thing to voluntarily do! However, I knew for a fact that if I pushed myself to do it, not only would I gain a little more confidence, I would also develop important skills such as organisation, delegation and surveying. "Be Brave" was used in this instance and I have since successfully carried out two beach clean-ups with two brilliant and friendly teams of volunteers.

When I did my first Beachwatch briefing to the group in March, I was incredibly nervous and had been for the couple of days running up to the event. A couple of family members and friends were there and I think that helped but at my second one, earlier this month, I had no one I knew there and I still managed to make it through. What I've really learnt is that the further I push myself out of that pesky "comfort zone", the bigger the rewards are.

Now we come to the peregrine project. I very nearly didn't apply for this when I first came across it on the RSPB website. Don't ask me why; I have no clear answer! I kept thinking "I can always do it next year", "it's a long way to travel and you don't know the area" and various thoughts along those lines. In the end, though, I gave myself a mental shake and talking to, applied my motto and sent the email. I had actually worked with Lauren, the person running the project, at Pulborough in the past so I was pleased I would at least know one face, even if it meant I'd be working with a brand new team of people.

I can't even tell you how relieved I am that I took the plunge. I was initially apprehensive because it was my first year on the project, my peregrine knowledge was sparse and I knew most of the volunteers had been doing it for years. I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Writing this now, it seems laughable that I these thoughts went through my head. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? We aren't born with a wealth of knowledge; we have to pursue it over time. The further we get through the project, the more I enjoy it and most especially, the more I enjoy talking to the public and teaching them. It really is a fantastic feeling to talk about a subject I am so passionate about and see the enthralled faces of visitors young and old as they absorb the facts.

To you, it might seem utterly ridiculous that I get so worked up over a small thing like volunteering or trying something new, but that's anxiety for you. If you're unfortunate enough to have it too, then maybe you can relate. It's pretty hard to explain the feelings I get to those lucky ones who don't have them. I'm so glad that I have pushed myself this year. My knowledge and skills base is expanding with everything I do and I honestly feel like volunteering has had a huge impact on me personally. This time two years ago, I never thought I'd be saying that I enjoy talking to the public!

If you're considering becoming a volunteer, just do it! I cannot recommend it highly enough. There are so many benefits for both parties and it doesn't have to be time-consuming; you give only the time you can afford to give. I've put a few links at the end of this post that will send you in the right direction.

If you've made it through this entire, rambling post-I salute you.


Helpful Links:

www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/volunteering

www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch/

www.wildlifetrusts.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer-with-us

www.tcv.org.uk/

30 Days Wild Day 13: Cleaning up Goring Beach!

Number 13: unlucky for some but very lucky in my family! I'm pretty exhausted as I type this, from a combination of climbing up and down a pebbly beach and being battered by a relentless sea breeze. Today was my second organised beach clean-up event, held on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society; I held the first back in March. When I first woke up this morning, I was slightly dismayed to find that the weather was even more overcast and dim than when I did the first clean-up and even the breeze wasn't particularly warm. Thankfully, by the time I'd driven down to Worthing and picked up the litter pickers from the beach office (while weaving through the children's carnvial/parade thing that was marching down the beachfront), the sun had come out completely and the wind, although incredibly strong, was surprisingly mild and I didn't even have to put on my rain mac for an extra layer!

I had a brilliant team of volunteers again, slightly smaller in numbers than the first but all were eager to go, despite none of them having ever done an organised beach clean before. The only annoying thing we found as we began collecting litter was that the rubbish bags acted like sails in the strong gusts and nearly blew half of us away, as well as making putting small scraps in there very tricky! I think even with bag rings, we would have still had the same issue. I guess that's the risk you take when you're down on the coast! At least the wind/kite surfers were able to make the most of it.

I picked up quite a number of metal drinks cans this time around as well as plenty of pieces of fishing line and rope. Thankfully, we didn't come across any dead animals or pack yokes that are notorious for strangling wildlife. Still, considering the beach had only been cleaned three months ago, the amount of litter about was surprising. It will be interesting to see at the next event in September how it has fared after a summer of picnics, BBQs, fish and chips, and ice creams have been consumed. I like to think that most people are like me; happy to take their rubbish to the nearest bin or home with them. Sadly, I know this isn't the case for many of the UK and it drives me mad. There's really no excuse for it. 

Balloons are not biodegradable

There were plenty of interesting items that were naturally occuring, including a huge abundance of whole cuttle fish. Normally, I only see left-over pieces of these but not today. A great number of whelk egg-cases were scattered around as well as large pieces of crab shell and shark egg cases. I'm quite tempted to come back during the month and have a little beach-combing session actually, to give me a chance for a closer look.

It was lovely being out in the fresh air with the sun beaming down, even with that keen wind! I do enjoy seeing a group of strangers working together to make a difference in such a way as this and it instills a renewed sense of hope in me that there are people who care about our environment and want to take care of it. One of the volunteers actually asked if she could collect some of the fishing line and rope for her textile work at university, which she will recycle and turn into fabric! What a great and innovative way to make a negative into a positive.

Among other categories, we collected: 

25 metal items

20 sanitary items

16 paper items

243 (!) plastic items

The amount of plastic items over every other materials still astounds me. There were quite a few make-up wipes which I have never flushed down the toilet but apparently some people do! I'd love to be able to encourage more people to take part in these events, if only to open their eyes to what happens to the items we put down the loo. Thanks to my brilliant volunteers, we collected over 5kg of rubbish which is great! 

If you are interested in taking part in a beach clean-up for the MCS, visit www.mcsuk.org or sing up for my next event on 19th September here: http://www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch/beach/goring-sea/event/2015-09-19 

Cleaning up Goring-by-Sea!

It may have been heavily overcast and the wind may have had a slight chill to it, but that didn't stop myself and 22 other brilliant volunteers from arming ourselves with litter pickers and tackling the shores of Worthing on Sunday!

I posted back in January about becoming a beachwatch survey organiser for the Marine Conservation Society and the weekend just gone saw my first event go ahead. I was quite nervous beforehand, having never arranged anything like this before, and I was concerned that less volunteers would turn up than the 18 I had confirmed on the site. Particularly as, despite the Saturday being gloriously sunny and (dare I say) Spring-like, the weather on Sunday was that of heavy cloud that was certainly not budging. I was pleasantly surprised when the allotted time came around (an hour after high tide, of course) and lots of people began to arrive, some seasoned beach-cleaners and some (like me!) who were brand new to the game, but all raring to go! We even had several younger (and very eager) volunteers which I was especially pleased to see. 

After giving a safety briefing and dividing everyone up into groups, all 23 of us headed over to the 100m strip of beach I had measured out earlier, with clipboards, litter-pickers and bin bags in hand. At first glance, there was a fair amount of rubbish to be collected but once we all got going and started recording each piece we found, it didn't take long at all for the bags to start bulging! I was both amazed and disgusted at the level of litter in such a small area. 

A huge amount of cable ties were found as well as fishing line, cotton bud sticks and rope. As would be expected, the vast majority of litter recorded was plastic. Happily, I had several volunteers say to me that they were really enjoying it and finding relaxing and therapeutic. I'm inclined to agree with that and after a while, I wasn't taking any notice of the biting wind, just focusing on the stretch of pebbles at my feet.

I estimated with the number of hands we had that the survey would take about an hour and I was more or less on the money. We piled all of our bags together and I weighed each one individually, finally coming to a grand total of 13.45kg! It really was astounding that we had jointly managed to collect quite so much from only 100m. When you stop and think about the amount of coastline we have in this country though, it's really very worrying to think how much litter is sitting on our beaches. If 23 people can pick up seven refuse bags worth of rubbish in an hour, just think how much more could be achieved if this was carried out all around the UK!

Even though the sun hadn't made an appearance all day, there were plenty of smiling faces as we finished up and started heading back to the car park. Several of the volunteers asked if there would be more cleans coming up and I am certainly eager to arrange future events based on the success of this one. It was really encouraging to see just how many people genuinely wanted to give up their time to do something so worthwhile. As one volunteer said, it really gives you a sense of pride.

In a nutshell, we collected:

-55 metal items

-3 medical items

-26 sanitary items

-31 paper items

-15 wood items

-26 glass items

-3 ceramic items

-615 plastic items!

-37 polystyrene items

-23 rubber items

-72 cloth items

A huge thank you to everyone who turned up and donated their time and energy! You were all fantastic!

If you are interested in future beach clean-ups, visit the MCS website.

A Very Pleasant Risk Assessment

As you may or may not know, I am holding a beach clean-up event on Sunday 8th March on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society. Part of being the organiser involves carrying out a risk assessment of the beach in question and today myself and my mum popped down to Worthing for that very reason. I have been to the beach several times in the past so I know it reasonably well but I also wanted to get an idea of the space we would be litter-picking in and the sorts of facilities available to us on the day.

The last time I visited this beach, Goring-by-Sea, the wind was absolutely howling and there was misty rain in the air which made a casual stroll rather unpleasant after some time! This afternoon was a total contrast to this; the heavy clouds from earlier on in the day had broken up and the sun was out, lending a mildness to the air. We were both surprised at the lack of a coastal breeze once we were on the beach, which is often responsible for bringing the temperature down a few degrees. It was actually very pleasant and I have my fingers firmly crossed that we will have a repeat of such conditions on the day of the event!

Having forgotten to bring either a tape measure or pedometer, I roughly paced out the space we will need for the survey and then checked this area for potential hazards. While wandering along the beach, we spotted various naturally occurring debris such as fish vertebrae and various egg cases. I had to do a little I.D. work on the egg cases when we got back home as I know very little about them. I found them to be whelk and either dogfish or catshark cases. I had an inkling about the latter but the whelk case was news to me: I've always wondered where those strange objects resembling bubble-wrap came from!

I have a decent number of confirmed volunteers for the beachwatch event but more are always welcome! If you are interested in taking part, you can visit this link to register. 

Marine Conservation Society Beachwatch Survey

One of my goals for this year is to gain as much conservation-related volunteer experience as I can. I want to expand my skills in all areas, including practical/field and academic, so that I can build a solid foundation for a career in conservation. One of the possibilities I looked at was volunteering for beach clean-ups in my local area, as a means of doing something vitally important for a good cause. During my online travels, I came across the Marine Conservation Society which is a charity based in the UK working towards the protection of our seas, shores and the wildlife that lives there.

“The tide of litter washing up on our shores is not just unpleasant to look at, it can harm and even kill some of our best-loved marine wildlife. Over 170 species including seabirds, turtles and whales have mistaken marine litter for food and actually eaten it, which in many cases has resulted in starvation, poisoning and ultimately a slow, painful death. Plastic packaging and discarded fishing nets also injure, entangle and drown some of Britain’s favourite marine animals, including seals and dolphins.”

They operate a programme entirely run by volunteers called the Beachwatch Survey that runs all over the country. The goal for each survey is to comb a 100m stretch of beach, record and collect each piece of litter found within that space and then send off the data to the MCS, who use it for analysis of the state of our beaches among other vital work. For my local beaches, there were no upcoming events scheduled when I looked, so I decided to register as an organiser and arrange my own clean-up. I'm quite excited as I've never taken part in a beach clean-up before, let alone organised one, and I am looking forward to the challenge of coordinating an event like this, thereby expanding my organisational skills and working towards a worthy cause (one of a great many that rely on volunteers). It's also a brilliant way to get some fresh, sea air after being stuck inside all Winter!

After liaising with Adur and Worthing Council and gaining permission to carry out an event, I have officially scheduled my first Beachwatch for Sunday 8th March. I'm holding it on Goring-by-Sea beach in Worthing, which is a beach I know reasonably well and is my nearest coastal area from where I am in Horsham. I am hoping to get a decent amount of volunteers to take part in the event so will be working hard to get the word out and about!

If you are in the West Sussex area and you're interested in taking part in this survey, you can find the event details here where you can register as a volunteer. It would be great to see as many people as possible helping out and enjoying a bit of fresh, sea air!


Image Credit:
www.mcsuk.org
http://www.viewphotos.org/england/images-city-Goring-by-Sea-8613.html