Anonymous
Source: Girl Scout Troop 50886
San Marcos High School junior Dorienne Larbig is raising awareness in the community, one Mylar balloon at a time.
Larbig, a 16-year-old Girl Scout Ambassador, recently launched her Girl Scout Gold Award Community Service Project called MylarMistake, an educational website and social media campaign to tell the community to reduce the use of Mylar balloons, as the balloons are detrimental to the local ocean environment and marine life.
Larbig created MylarMistake.com to promote reducing or repurposing the use of Mylar. When community members are able to gather together again, Larbig hopes to present her information and personal story at community events and summer camps using her motto Party’s Over, Mylar!
Due to COVID-19, she is pivoting her project to be based mostly online.
“Though Mylar balloons are colorful and can lift the spirits of any event, single-use Mylar balloons are horribly destructive to the environment,” Larbig said. “Mylar is virtually non-recyclable, and it is one of the top three types of litter removed from the Santa Barbara Channel. It is deadly to marine life and compounds the amount of debris in our local ocean and landfill.”
A Santa Barbara Beach lifeguard and competitive swimmer, Larbig said her idea for change began on a kayak excursion to Anacapa Island.
Shocked to witness how many Mylar balloons were fished out of the ocean by the guide during her trip, she realized it wasn’t well-known that single-use Mylar balloons blown from the Santa Barbara mainland often end up in the Santa Barbara Channel.
“This project is incredibly important,” said Penny Owens from Santa Barbara Channelkeeper. “I am thrilled to partner with Dorienne to guide her passion, connect with the community, and take action to make a difference to keep the ocean clean and safe for all.”
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn. The Gold Award is a personal challenge to demonstrate leadership and create a sustainable change to meet a community need. The project includes building a team of community members and field experts to gain real-world experience.
Larbig’s advisory committee includes Owens; Kathi King from the Community Environmental Council; Sam Macks of the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum Sea Center; and Carson Cantrell from Can-If Marketing.
“The Santa Barbara beaches and ocean bind our community together. It’s very special,” Larbig said.
“These balloons tear apart our unique ecosystem. So for your next event, think twice before you buy them.”
Dorienne Larbig is a member of Girl Scout Troop 50886 in Santa Barbara, CA. She is a Community Service Gold Award Candidate for the Girl Scouts of the California Central Coast (GSCCC). For more information, please contact mylarmistake@gmail.com or visit our website at mylarmistake.com.
I am thankful for this fine young woman.
It is encouraging to see such an effort. This is not a trivial thing. The wantonness of those who think their one moment of ‘joy’ is worthy of the ecological harm done by thee things is appalling. Now let’s do something about people who throw their used latex gloves into the streets for someone else to deal with. And the idiots who use plastic flossing devices while walking around then discard them into gutters. Who are these people?
Wonderful plan to contribute and inspire Dorienne! I’ve been holding one Birthday Mylar balloon in case I wanted to use it again. However, so it doesn’t become part of the waste in the channel or some random elsewhere it might land – mountains, gardens, zoo, etc I
am going to get it, cut it, and put it in the trash. So for today, at least on my end, you can count the demise of another “one Mylar balloon at a time” in celebration of your effort! Thank you!
Thank you for doing this Dorienne! These balloons are a nightmare and should be eliminated.
Thank you for doing this project. Yes, these balloons are very cheerful but when they fly away they cause a lot of damage. As a part of your project, please contact the places where these are sold. Perhaps they could sell “balloons” that don’t float because they are mounted on sticks. That might mitigate the number of trash balloons. In case the stores don’t want to give up selling these things, perhaps each one could come with a tag indicating proper disposal and the consequences of improper disposal.
MAY 08, 2020 12:14 AM If you think it’s okay to harm our ocean animals and other types of wildlife, you need to do your research: >>>>>>>>> “However, the most devastating effect is animal harm. It can take anywhere from six months to four years for a latex balloon to degrade, and even longer for a mylar balloon. This gives them plenty of time to harm our marine life before they finally break down. Deflated balloons are frequently ingested by animals, causing intestinal problems, and balloon ribbons are responsible for animal entanglement and strangulation.” (yachts4fun.com —– Marina del Rey).
These mylar balloons NEVER decompose, 1066; that’s the whole point of this project & educational article. You minimize the effect they have by suggesting they just dissolve over time after running low on helium. Hooey!
Kudos to you, Dorienne for bringing awareness to our community. One balloon can cause the death of a horse . Let’s use birdseed to celebrate!
“These balloons tear apart our unique ecosystem.“ How exactly do the balloons do this? Do they disrupt the food chain somehow? Does mylar catalyze some kind of runaway reaction in the nutrient cycle? Actually the balloons don’t tear anything apart, they simply run out of helium, fall to earth, then lie inert until the sun and the elements eventually decompose the polyethylene.
Another consideration is that helium is a limited and non-renewable resource. Using it for such frivolous activities as filling balloons is not responsible behaviour.