Balloons Pollute Everglades Despite New Law

A new balloon-releasing ban will be nothing but hot air unless people make personal changes. 

Just days after a new Florida law makes it illegal to release balloons, several metallic balloons were discovered in the remote Everglades waters just east of Collier County. Their metallic coloring was seen oozing into the waters and vegetation. 

On June 24, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law prohibiting releasing balloons. The law went into effect on July 1.

However, on July 4, airboat operators in the Everglades continued to pull several balloons from the River of Grass, just as they report doing on a daily basis. Balloons can travel thousands of miles from where they are released.

DeSantis signed CS/HB 321 into law, allowing fines of $150 for littering when anyone older than age six releases balloons.

However, catching the culprits can be difficult.

Ochopee resident Betty Osceola, who operates Buffalo Tigers Everglades Airboat Tours in Miami, just a few miles southeast of Collier County, finds balloons in the remote waters daily.

On July 4, Osceola spotted the flash of silver in the tall grasses of the shimmering waters. 

As she took guests on an airboat ride, they plucked two metallic balloons from water just a short distance apart from one another near the reservation of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, of which Osceola is a member of the Panther Clan. 

The balloons left a metallic residue on the hands and in the water, demonstrating the toxicity, in addition to the frequent harm to wildlife. 

The Bill’s description acknowledges the damage: "Balloons take years to break down and often end up in waterways or the ocean, where they can be swallowed by marine animals.”

Sea turtles are known to swallow balloons like they are eating their prey of jellyfish, eating the balloons to their own demise, as do many other species. 

Environmentalists hope the legislation will raise awareness and persuade people to not decorate with balloons outdoors or at least not intentionally release them.

“Like everything, it’s about changing people’s habits,” said Osceola. 

Though using balloons outside is popular, they may be best used indoors due to their ease of escaping, even if accidentally. An accidental release is not illegal, but it’s still just as harmful. 

“Balloons don’t really go to heaven,” said Jen Carroll Bryson of Naples as she watched the balloons plucked from the side of the airboat. 

When back at the dock, guests showed their hands glittering with silver metallic balloon residue to another airboat tour guide, Fabian Redwing. He stretched out his hand, also smeared with the residue from a golden metallic balloon found that same day. 

Although biodegradable balloons may seem like an alternative, Osceola warns that they may be worse. The toxins from biodegradable balloons degrade into the environment. Biodegradable does not mean nontoxic, she relayed.

The solution is really simple, but change doesn’t seem to come quickly. 

“Take your trash with you,” said Osceola. 

The sighting and removal of waste by airboat operators offers an example of the importance of people maintaining access to the 729,000 acres of Big Cypress National Preserve, located just outside where these balloons were located. The National Park Service is recommending a Wilderness Designation there, which would restrict access to areas where the Miccosukee Tribe and Glades people have long been stewards of the land. 

If people cannot access the area, then they cannot be stewards of the lands, which are already affected by the actions of people near and far, requiring their ongoing management. The Tribe and Florida State officials oppose the Wilderness Designation in Big Cypress National Preserve, with U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) proposing Bill US S4267 / #HR8206 to prevent a Wilderness Designation in Big Cypress, which has been proposed several times over the years by people living outside of the area. 

The Tribe is recommending people write legislators to oppose the Wilderness Designation and support Bill US S4267 / #HR8206. This will allow people like Osceola to continue her land stewardship in her ancestral lands as well as continue their way of life, including access to ceremonial grounds.

In the meantime, hold onto those balloons, she suggests.