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- BUSINESS, Page 72Business NotesBOYCOTTSBalloons Of Doom
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- Now that you've mothballed your fur coat and promised to
- eat only dolphin-friendly tuna, here comes the latest sacrifice
- for the animal kingdom: balloons. The mass launching of
- helium-filled balloons, once a fixture of homecoming games and
- political rallies, may soon go the way of goldfish swallowing.
- Connecticut, Florida and Tennessee have led the way in outlawing
- the practice because ecologists contend that the balloons are
- eventually eaten by marine animals. The resulting blockages can
- bring death by suffocation or hunger.
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- Balloon-industry boosters insist that the product typically
- ends its life by shattering at high altitudes into harmless,
- biodegradable smithereens. But the argument is lost on some of
- the most fervent balloon fanciers: children. In Louisville
- fourth-grade students successfully campaigned for a local law to
- forbid outdoor launchings.
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