50 signatures reached
To: North Sewickley TWP
STOP BALLOON RELEASES
Released balloons don’t reach your passed loved ones in heaven. They end up causing destruction and in some cases even more death. Spent and stray balloons end up in fields with farm animals that end up ingesting balloons or end up scared out of their minds running themselves to near death in panic and confusion. Balloon strings become caught in trees and branches leaving wildlife and birds of prey such as bald eagles and owls entangled. There is reasons why littering is illegal and it's a detriment to our environment and surrounding ecosystems.
Why is this important?
I struggle to find the difference between taking some 50 unfilled balloons and strings and tossing them out in the parking lot of your local park and receiving a hefty fine for littering but fill those same 50 balloons and fill them up and let them go and float away to become your neighbors problem and in many cases vet bill no one cares. How is this not considered littering? When questioning our local North Sewickley police department it was stated that they didn't care and if that's the case what else don't they care about ? In a township that consists largely of land used for agricultural purposes and farms why aren't we taking this seriously? Are we this naive sitting here in 2024 to not understand that once these balloons go up that they come back down somewhere else to become someone else's problem and expense? As someone who has worked heavily in agriculture and wildlife conservation for all of my life I plan on presenting these questions to our township and finding the answers to these questions.There is so many other wonderful ways to celebrate lost loved ones such as planting a tree or candlelight vigil.If you care about the negative impact releasing balloons causes to our animals,wildlife,environment, and also our neighbors please take a moment to sign my petition.