Ever wonder where that balloon that flies to the sky really goes? Well, the average balloon released at sea level bursts after about 90 minutes into thin, spaghetti like pieces. There has been much speculation that balloons are very bad for the environment, however, I am encouraged to learn that latex balloon (what most are made of) begin to biodegrade almost immediately. That fading color of the skin is the early process of degradation. A latex balloon biodegrades at the rate of an oak leaf. Further, latex is harvested from the rubber tree which is a main source of vegetation for the tropical rainforest, and the rubber tree must be kept in tact and sap collected from it much like that for maple syrup in order to make latex. So essentially latex makes it profitable to keep the rubber tree. Last notes: Should always tie the knot using the balloon itself and not rubber clips, and use biodegradable string and not ribbons and then maybe balloons are not such a party pooper! (Do forego those metallic looking ones, however.)
i love this, finally now i can buy them with out fretting.. and we still need to cut them up and remove the ribbons b/c they get tangled in turtles and other sea creatures.