News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

[7balloon]

Fun read about balloons being more popular.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/style/how-balloons-blew-up.html

[Loonorm]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

It will not allow access unless you are a subscriber…. :-(

[Seidenki]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

I use balloons as semi-permanent decoration in my home, including my WFH space. Have done for years. I'm just ahead of the curve. :-)

[Scooter]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

To the surprise of no-one here, totally down for a resurgence of balloons as decorations. Maybe this will be a good bounce back for manufacturers after the height of COVID.

I must admit, I do have a bit of a fantasy of running through a tight field of helium balloon strings with the balloons floating either by my head or slightly above, just feeling them bob around as I go past. Even better if I'm holding some while I do so.

But that requires a big open space and a ton of helium, neither of which I have so c'est la vie. At least for now.

[LoonerPlanet]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

For those who couldn't get access to the article, the reporter describes how massive balloon installs have become big business. Famous celebrities are spending thousands of dollars on balloon clouds and balloon walls for their parties. Great for instagram or TikTok images.

From my perspective, the good news is that balloon manufacturers are doing well. The decorators are mixing balloon sizes, so there is a strong incentive to keep producing 16", 17" 24" and 36" balloons. Yay!

The downside, at least for me and maybe others, is the color palette being used: lots of muted pastels. Other than some clears, no crystals or soap colors. Lots of chrome balloons (better than the pastels). Sorry, but colors like canyon rose look drab to me.

Oh, and they are all under inflated. LOL.

[b0f0s0f]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

This is interesting to me because personally it's seemed like balloons were falling out of common use for a lot of events. Maybe it's just my perception but as a kid I remember that all sorts of events would be teeming with balloons, like the school "carnival" events and especially the annual city parade. That parade was the bane of my existence as a kid since I knew that there would just be balloons absolutely everywhere. But I watched it recently and also looked up some videos from recent years and saw that there were very few balloons, and noticed similar things for other events. Maybe it's just regional, or maybe it just depends who organizes that year?

[IILoonerII]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

This is my impression as well. Balloons are basically gone from the public compared to 25 years ago. The article is from the USA, maybe there are many professional balloon decorators there that make decorations for rich people events since they are not cheap.

That being said the comment section of the article is an absolute cesspool of misguided environmentalists that equal all balloons with plastic pollution.

Its the New York times… i doubt any of those comments are real and probably are bots. Nobody cares for them anymore because all they do is lie. Its laughable that they think balloons are plastic when its “latex”. yet they don't have this concern for face mask or the mess they leave behind when they protest. lol

[IILoonerII]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

I doubt they are all bots, it is just what you get as an audience when you are a very left/liberal/progressive leaning newspaper.
You would get the same results if you would ask a forum like Reddit on their opinion on balloons.

Good news is… they are a very small population and nobody believes them anyway. especially when you do your own research. Its a shame, that environmental experts do not some how know, that latex is much more environment friendly than plastic. But who trust “experts” now these days. when it comes to knowing things? Certainly not after what they have been doing and advocating for recently. Not even the real left believes them when it comes to the environment. lol. much like greta anyways….. shes a tool, just like them…

[Scooter]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

This is interesting to me because personally it's seemed like balloons were falling out of common use for a lot of events. Maybe it's just my perception but as a kid I remember that all sorts of events would be teeming with balloons, like the school "carnival" events and especially the annual city parade. That parade was the bane of my existence as a kid since I knew that there would just be balloons absolutely everywhere. But I watched it recently and also looked up some videos from recent years and saw that there were very few balloons, and noticed similar things for other events. Maybe it's just regional, or maybe it just depends who organizes that year?

I think the point is more that the... perceived value of balloons is going up. Less places are going to buy cheap balloons to fill an event, but more individuals holding private parties are paying more money for good specialty balloons as decoration. They're being seen as less "corny, cheap, and vibrant" and more "fun and mood matching."

The average person doesn't have a ton of money to spend on professionally decorated balloons, so this doesn't affect the average person.

[Whale Rider]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

Its the New York times… i doubt any of those comments are real and probably are bots. Nobody cares for them anymore because all they do is lie. Its laughable that they think balloons are plastic when its “latex”. yet they don't have this concern for face mask or the mess they leave behind when they protest. lol

whose lies? the NYT? they seem kinda accurate for a US based magazine, granted there are better news sources than the NYT but most US news sources are far far worse...

really I am sure you can expose all of their lies? would make a good best selling book... oh you cant? because you have absolutely no sources, only rumors? damn.

the question if latex is plastic is surprisingly difficult since plastics has no commonly accepted scientific definition, in other words several definitions are floating around. A better and more precise answer might be it is a polymer. Polymer has a definite definition so that part of the discussion is neatly avoided. Latex or rubber IS a polymer so we have checked that box.

But the more obvious question is is it important if it is a polymer? One should not litter and throw your trash just to the floor anyway. Use the trashcan...

Face Masks are a medical personal protection, hardly comparable to fun things like balloons, your helmet is also different from a condom and should be treated differently...

[Whale Rider]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

Good news is… they are a very small population and nobody believes them anyway. especially when you do your own research. Its a shame, that environmental experts do not some how know, that latex is much more environment friendly than plastic. But who trust “experts” now these days. when it comes to knowing things? Certainly not after what they have been doing and advocating for recently. Not even the real left believes them when it comes to the environment. lol. much like greta anyways….. shes a tool, just like them…

watching youtube vids and repeating what other people tell you is NOT research. I previously linked a study that it takes a few years on average for latex to completely dissolve, is that an issue? no, latex is bio-inert apart from a few people who are allergic. also plastic is not properly defined and very broad since it includes things like PLA (polylactic acid) which is completely dissolved in any proper waste water treatment plant in the anaerobic part of the plant, to PE (polyethylene) which is a bitch to get rid of (hopes are on some experimental bacteria...) to PTFE (Teflon) which is next to chemically unbreakable.

So it is wise to seperate these different polymers into different buckets instead of a shoddily defined catchall term plastics.

If you care for the environment has nothing to do with left or right, only if you have a basic understanding of science or in the case of certain US politicians being greased by carbon industry money...

[Whale Rider]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

Biodegradeable does not mean something vanishes over night. It just means microbes, fungis and the like can eat it under the right conditions. Even completly natural products like dead trees, fallen twigs and leaves do not vanish over night. Even regular leaves can stay many months.

you are very correct Latex takes a few years in nature, i direct sunlight it can be reduced to dust in months instead of years but it does vanish while PTFE will stay for a veeery long time... just because something is natural does not mean it is unstable. It all depends on the circumstances the german capital Berlin center is mainly built on thousends of century old oak piles which still keep up the load from the stuff above it. Ground is not very solid there.

in a Water Treatment plant (Klärwerk) the anaerobic stage should degrade the majority of latex in the normal 4 to 12 week cycle. it all depends on the surface of the latex piece. Larger pieces should be filtered out at the first stage and are typically collected for burning in a waste treatment plant. Smaller pieces degrade comparinglyfast in such a anaerobic environment. Anything that is still left will be in the sludge that is typically subsequently also burned in a waste treatment plant, most make eletricity from the energy in the sludge/solid waste. times when this was simply dumped on the open sea are luckily over...

[IILoonerII]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

whose lies? the NYT? they seem kinda accurate for a US based magazine, granted there are better news sources than the NYT but most US news sources are far far worse...

really I am sure you can expose all of their lies? would make a good best selling book... oh you cant? because you have absolutely no sources, only rumors? damn.

Im still learning…. But If you only knew how bad our media is and how they blatantly lie. You wouldn't make a statement like debunking them with “rumors”. theres a reason why they don't want you knowing.. about those “rumors”. Yes the crazy right wing nut cases have been right…

[IILoonerII]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

watching youtube vids and repeating what other people tell you is NOT research. I previously linked a study that it takes a few years on average for latex to completely dissolve, is that an issue? no, latex is bio-inert apart from a few people who are allergic. also plastic is not properly defined and very broad since it includes things like PLA (polylactic acid) which is completely dissolved in any proper waste water treatment plant in the anaerobic part of the plant, to PE (polyethylene) which is a bitch to get rid of (hopes are on some experimental bacteria...) to PTFE (Teflon) which is next to chemically unbreakable.

So it is wise to seperate these different polymers into different buckets instead of a shoddily defined catchall term plastics.

If you care for the environment has nothing to do with left or right, only if you have a basic understanding of science or in the case of certain US politicians being greased by carbon industry money...

Yes, i do, do my own research…. To make sure their words match up… well, lately it seem only the right hates the environment apparently. according to our politicians.

[LoonerPlanet]

Re: News Article about the growth in Popularity of Balloons

As a Looner and an environmentalist, I do think our community should avoid releasing balloons or leaving pieces in the environment. Is it as big a problem as climate change, habitat loss or micro plastic particles? No. But we are all citizens of the Earth. Whale Rider has done a good job of listing the ways latex can decompose, but not always fast enough to keep animals from eating it. I do hope this topic doesn't degenerate into a flame war.

As for The New York Times, the editorial board does lean liberal, but the news section is straight reporting. Just as the Wall Street Journal leans conservative, but the news section is news. Both papers put up walls between editorial and news, and are among the few newspapers left in the US that regularly conduct investigative and aggressive reporting. They also admit when they get a story wrong. Both are credible sources, and hold politicians responsible for their decisions or lack of action.