The only air is in the heads of these protesters.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/08/23/MNBALLOONS.TMP&nl=top
S.F. Considers Ban on Mass Balloon Releases
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco may soon take the air out of people's balloons, literally.
A committee of the city Environment Commission tomorrow will consider recommending a ban on outdoor mass balloon releases, saying that the balloons are a menace to wildlife.
"This is an entertainment luxury we can do without to protect endangered species," said Randy Hayes, the commission president whose resolution will be considered by the Planning and Policy Committee.
Hayes' resolution, patterned after similar bans already in place in other states and at places including the White House and Walt Disney World in Florida, says balloons can drift hundreds of miles before landing, and are sometimes eaten by wildlife. Animals can then choke on the plastic or Mylar balloons, Hayes said.
"They're sort of an environmental pollutant, no matter how you look at it," added Mark Westlund of the Environment Commission staff.
If Hayes' resolution becomes law, some big civic events in San Francisco would look quite different. The Giants released balloons last April at the opening day of Pacific Bell Park, for instance, and the city itself has done balloon releases.
The city Recreation and Parks Department already has stopped all mass releases, the resolution notes.
The whole idea of a ban went over like a lead balloon with Marie Mandoli, who owns The Balloon Lady, a San Francisco-based business that has choreographed balloon displays and releases around the world.
"Latex balloons are 100 percent biodegradable. They will biodegrade as quickly as an oak leaf," said Mandoli, who has been in business for 27 years and helped put together the annual International Balloon Arts Convention.
She countered Hayes' environmental argument with one of her own. "Latex balloons are from rubber trees in the rain forest, which are tapped like maple trees," she said. "The trees provide livelihood to people and that prevents the rain forest from being cleared, since it preserves the trees."
Hayes was unswayed, saying dead sea turtles have been found with chewed balloons hanging from their mouths. But Mandoli said this is a myth. She acknowledged that an autopsy of a turtle on the East Coast revealed a balloon in the animal's stomach, but she said it had been killed by a boat's propeller.
Hayes also said that it takes several years for a latex balloon to degrade.
If the commission passes Hayes' resolution, which doesn't specify how many balloons constitute a mass release or set a fine for violations, it would still have to be passed by the Board of Supervisors and signed by the mayor to become law.
California already bans the release of balloons made of Mylar, a chromed polyester film, because they can short out power lines. The law says such balloons must be individually weighted before being taken outdoors.
Mandoli, who is doing an 8,000-balloon release tomorrow in Sacramento for a shopping center opening, said when she does such releases she doesn't use any plastic clips on the balloons because the plastic doesn't degrade. Instead, each balloon is hand-tied.
E-mail Edward Epstein atepstein@sfgate.com.
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/08/23/MNBALLOONS.TMP&nl=top
S.F. Considers Ban on Mass Balloon Releases
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco may soon take the air out of people's balloons, literally.
A committee of the city Environment Commission tomorrow will consider recommending a ban on outdoor mass balloon releases, saying that the balloons are a menace to wildlife.
"This is an entertainment luxury we can do without to protect endangered species," said Randy Hayes, the commission president whose resolution will be considered by the Planning and Policy Committee.
Hayes' resolution, patterned after similar bans already in place in other states and at places including the White House and Walt Disney World in Florida, says balloons can drift hundreds of miles before landing, and are sometimes eaten by wildlife. Animals can then choke on the plastic or Mylar balloons, Hayes said.
"They're sort of an environmental pollutant, no matter how you look at it," added Mark Westlund of the Environment Commission staff.
If Hayes' resolution becomes law, some big civic events in San Francisco would look quite different. The Giants released balloons last April at the opening day of Pacific Bell Park, for instance, and the city itself has done balloon releases.
The city Recreation and Parks Department already has stopped all mass releases, the resolution notes.
The whole idea of a ban went over like a lead balloon with Marie Mandoli, who owns The Balloon Lady, a San Francisco-based business that has choreographed balloon displays and releases around the world.
"Latex balloons are 100 percent biodegradable. They will biodegrade as quickly as an oak leaf," said Mandoli, who has been in business for 27 years and helped put together the annual International Balloon Arts Convention.
She countered Hayes' environmental argument with one of her own. "Latex balloons are from rubber trees in the rain forest, which are tapped like maple trees," she said. "The trees provide livelihood to people and that prevents the rain forest from being cleared, since it preserves the trees."
Hayes was unswayed, saying dead sea turtles have been found with chewed balloons hanging from their mouths. But Mandoli said this is a myth. She acknowledged that an autopsy of a turtle on the East Coast revealed a balloon in the animal's stomach, but she said it had been killed by a boat's propeller.
Hayes also said that it takes several years for a latex balloon to degrade.
If the commission passes Hayes' resolution, which doesn't specify how many balloons constitute a mass release or set a fine for violations, it would still have to be passed by the Board of Supervisors and signed by the mayor to become law.
California already bans the release of balloons made of Mylar, a chromed polyester film, because they can short out power lines. The law says such balloons must be individually weighted before being taken outdoors.
Mandoli, who is doing an 8,000-balloon release tomorrow in Sacramento for a shopping center opening, said when she does such releases she doesn't use any plastic clips on the balloons because the plastic doesn't degrade. Instead, each balloon is hand-tied.
E-mail Edward Epstein atepstein@sfgate.com.
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle