EDITOR,
Today at the Loggers Sports Bed Races, to my dismay, organizers were selling helium balloons.
I thought we had this one covered after Canada Day last year when MP John Weston was giving out helium balloons havingno idea how bad they are in the environment. I wrote about that at the time and there were no helium balloons this past Canada Day - thank you.
Many jurisdictions have laws against the release of helium balloons (California, Texas, New York, Connecticut, Virginia and Florida, to name a few) because they harm wildlife in the ocean and on land. Animals ingest them or feed them to their young. Since this non-food fills their stomachs or becomes entangled intheir digestive tracts,they die of starvation. There is plenty of research available on this.
Kids don't care nearly as much about balloons as their parents or theevent organizers. Most kids tire of them or lose their balloons within minutes in any case.There is plenty of other stuff to look at. If there are no balloons, kids won't miss them at all.
Event organizers need to be told and event permits need to come with the stipulation: No helium balloons!Please, let's make Squamish ahelium balloon free zone.
Dorte Froslev
Brackendale
