Eco-friendly balloons

by Ilona Peltz, Posted May 6th 2008 2:58PM

Balloons are a bright and pretty way to add color to your informal wedding -- but they're not very environmentally friendly. If you plan a balloon release (check on this: it's illegal in many jurisdictions), or if a few manage to escape despite your precautions, it's a sad fact that deflated and popped vinyl balloons are a threat to wildlife. A shriveled balloon can look like a nice yummy worm to an unsuspecting bird, which is then choked by someone's "harmless" decor.

But balloons are fun. Are there alternatives? Well, there are Mylar balloons, of course, which when deflated, don't shrivel as latex does -- but they're not more bio-degradable. And then there are paper balloons.

Yes, paper, coated in water-soluble PVA. These paper balloons are completely bio-degradable, they can be filled with helium using a standard pump, they don't pop readily as do latex, and -- awwww -- they're shaped like doves. They've been around a while, too: they were released to great audience satisfaction at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. When released, they even look like they're flapping their wings.

via: Eco-chic weddings

Source

Tags: balloon-release, balloons, dove-shape-balloons, featured, paper-balloons, wedding-balloons