created Jun 22, 2018
Releases thousands of helium balloons for events or whatever are acceptable forms of littering.
If a motorist tosses a spent balloon out the window of a moving vehicle, and a police officer sees the action, the police officer can pull over the driver and fine someone hundreds of dollars for littering. One balloon.
But if thousands balloons are released by at an organized event, the police are probably providing crowd and traffic control.
Humans do incredibly stupid things and this is one of them. Do the people realize that those balloons come down somewhere downwind? Those balloons land in trees, fields, lakes, rivers, and streams.
It's typical for slackjaws to prioritize their own selfish, short-term enjoyment over long-term consequences that will occur elsewhere.
Balloon releases are anti-nature, anti-environment actions.
theatlantic.com - The Doomed Cleveland Balloonfest of 1986 [video]
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17370469
The film’s mounting sense of dread prepares us for what happens next: the balloons are promptly brought down by an approaching storm. They wreak havoc on the city, litter Lake Erie, and, tragically, impede a Coast Guard search and rescue mission for two missing fishermen. Balloonfest serves as a sobering reminder of the short-sightedness of humankind.
Ah. The problem was that the balloons came down on the people and area that launched the balloons. If the balloons came down many miles downwind, out of sight of the area that released the balloons, then it would have been okay.