Targeting Mylar Balloons

On the heels of the East Hampton Town Board’s Feb. 7 vote to ban the intentional release of balloons, the town trustee who was among those drawing attention to their detrimental impact on marine life is now advocating an outright ban on the sale or distribution of Mylar balloons. 

“It’s not too soon,” Susan McGraw Keber, who last year designed a “balloon fish” illustration crafted from found balloons to convey the message that they pose a hazard to marine life, told her colleagues on Monday. Mylar balloons are banned on Block Island, and other jurisdictions have enacted similar prohibitions, she said. “I’d like to see us ban Mylar balloons. They’re really deleterious to the environment. . . . This is singling out a specific material that is very harmful. And they seem to be everywhere now.”

Her colleagues agreed. “They show up on our beaches all the time,” said Francis Bock, the trustees’ clerk. 

Mylar is the brand name for a type of stretched polyester film. It is found in products such as food packaging, and is used as a protective covering, an electrical and thermal insulator, and reflective material. 

Unlike latex balloons, Mylar balloons can be manufactured to form shapes when inflated, such as hearts, stars, letters, and numbers. They feature a shiny surface and often bear birthday, holiday, or other special occasion messages. 

At the town board’s Feb. 7 meeting, speakers including Kimberly Durham of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society spoke of the mortal danger that balloons and the ribbons or strings typically tied to them pose to animals such as sea turtles, seals, dolphins, and whales. “Ingestion, whether directly or indirectly through their food, is a major threat to New York’s marine mammals and sea turtles,” she told the board. The ribbon or string can constrict and cut deeply into flesh, restricting breathing. 

The trustees agreed to draft a letter supporting a ban, which will be forwarded to the town board.