When the front page of a newspaper carries a picture of a balloon release as if it is a perfectly pleasant and harmless thing to do, it demands a response.
Biodegradable balloons take about four years to degrade by which time they will have presented an eyesore wherever they finally land and will have choked sea birds and other sea life, not to mention livestock on the land.
What about the strings attached to the balloons? Were they biodegradable? Cold comfort to the guillemot that chokes to death with it wrapped round its neck.