30 Reasons to Ban Glitter, Balloons, & Fireworks
30 Reasons to Ban Glitter, Balloons, & Fireworks
They are sparkly, funky, beautiful, amusing, and a cultural symbol for celebration! However, scientists & activists want glitter, balloons, and fireworks off the face of the Earth. There are many reasons why to avoid these 3 objects that are unnecessary polluters... read on below!
Glitter:
- Glitter is made of microplastic, which is a major proportion of water pollution.
- Glitter is made of PETs that leach out endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
- When eaten by marine life, glitter can cause adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological and immune effects.
- Glitter is found in many beauty products, polluting straight into waterways & drinking water.
- PETs attract and absorb organic pollutants and pathogens, adding an extra layer of contamination.
- When animals at the bottom of the ladder- like mollusks, sea snails, marine worms, and plankton- eat pathogen or pollutant-carrying particles of glitter, glitter can concentrate in toxicity as they move up the food chain, all the way to dinner plates.
Balloons:
- A still-noteworthy number of balloons drift into waterways.
- When balloons end up floating in waterways, animals often mistake them for colorful prey, like jellyfish, and eat them, or get tangled in their strings.
- Balloons are a wasteful single-use product that quickly ends up in the garbage.
- Banning balloons would also have the added benefit of reducing stress on the world’s finite helium reserves.
- Once in seawater, some activists argue, latex breaks down more slowly.
- Some latex balloons are also chemically treated in ways that prevent natural biodegradation, and balloons made of Mylar take substantially longer to biodegrade than the latex variety.
Fireworks:
- Fireworks damage personal property—in some cases, catastrophically.
- Fireworks damage public property—in some cases, catastrophically.
- Fireworks create trash; the parties responsible usually do not clean up the remains.
- Fireworks terrorize our pets and shelter animals!
- They blow up the fingers and hands of users, even the most experienced and careful among them.
- They disrupt our neighbors and communities with noise.
- They cause stress and worry, both in the fear of their potential danger and the suddenness of their noise. Our most vulnerable citizens, especially children and war veterans, are the ones most susceptible to this stress.
- They’re bad for the environment.
- They smell and cause air pollution.
- Their packaging often enforces racial stereotypes.
- They have and continue to burn down acres of nature's finest land, causing unimaginable damage to natural resources & public resources.
- Fireworks the air unfit to breathe.
- Decimate sites that bring pride and wonder to the region.
- Threaten homes & dirty the streets.
- Kill thousands, if not millions of wild animals & insects.
- Pollute water supply!
