Balloon Releases at Celebrations Now Subject to Penalties

Under Bill HB387 passed by the NH House, incorporating a balloon release into any celebration could prove costly.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Planners of graduation parties or other celebratory events, take note: Bill HB387 passed by the New Hampshire House took effect January of this year and makes the act of releasing 20 or more balloons a violation offense subject to fines.  First time offenders can be charged $250 which increase to $500 for subsequent offenses. “Any deterrent to releasing balloons is always welcome,” states Jennifer Kennedy, Executive Director of Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation based in Portsmouth, NH.” We are excited by this step and efforts to generate awareness of the potential harm balloon releases cause. However, 20 is still 20 balloons too many due to their harmful impacts on marine animals and humans.”

Balloon releases are a popular way to celebrate, memorialize, or bring attention to an event or cause. However, environmental organizations around the world have studied the dangers of balloon releases to the environment, both terrestrial and marine, and found that they are extremely damaging. 

Even Bill HB387 itself states that “the General court declares that the release into the atmosphere of balloons inflated with lighter-than-air-gases constitutes littering, because the balloons eventually return to the earth’s surface. Deflated balloons pose a serious threat to the life and well-being of wildlife and marine animals via ingestion or entanglement with attached ribbons.”

In the Gulf of Maine specifically, several species of whales, seabirds, seals and turtles could easily ingest or become entangled in balloons and the strings. These animals struggle to differentiate between a harmful balloon and actual food. Sea turtles, for example, can mistake balloons for jellyfish, a significant part of their diet.

Since 2001, Blue Ocean Society has conducted beach cleanups from Portland, ME to Boston, MA and in 2025 alone recorded 559 balloons on local beaches. According to Kennedy, “Balloons are among the top types of litter we observe offshore. On 629 whale watch trips from 2022-2025, we spotted 651 balloons (single balloons or bunches). Marine life and other wildlife can become entangled in a balloon or its strings/ribbon. These animals can also mistake them for food and ingest them.” In 2014, Marine Mammals of Maine reported a balloon inside the stomach of a stranded Atlantic white-sided dolphin in York.

Not only do these balloons have the potential to kill marine animals, they also negatively impact our own health. Balloons and their strings are made of plastic which, if not consumed by larger animals, eventually break down into smaller plastic pieces that are consumed by plankton, filter feeders (mussels, clams, oysters), crabs, lobsters, fish etc. That plastic leaches chemicals into the tissues of these animals, many of which we eat. 
Kennedy states, “Some people argue that latex balloons released are biodegradable and will pop into such small pieces they won’t harm any marine life. Unfortunately, many balloons float back to Earth before they reach enough height to pop. Natural latex might be biodegradable, but once different chemicals and colorful dyes are added to the balloons they lose any degrading property.”

“While balloons may be a fun way to celebrate an event,” Kennedy notes, “we shouldn’t need legislation to make the personal choice to keep our sea life, and ourselves, safe. Environmentally-supportive alternatives for celebrations and memorials are readily available such as planting trees or flowers or scattering native flower petals.”