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Comment by rkagerer | Hacker News Reader

Are biodegradable alternatives to latex available?

e.g. Could you make balloons out of something like polyvinyl alcohol (think dishwasher pods) so that they dissolve in the rain?

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> Are biodegradable alternatives to latex available?

Latex does biodegrade - the article says this.

Not as fast as would be ideal for balloons, and of course the balloons should just not be released. But latex is a natural organic product - it does biodegrade.

Weren't the original balloons animal bladders, which seem gross but certainly biodegradable?

Yes. Though think bigger.

Why is it gross? Sausage skins are still commonly made out of pig guts.

The vegetables you eat are probably covered in insect poo, even more so for the expensive organic stuff.

Those leather shoes on your feet are the skins of dead animals.

Even plastic is made out of dead rotted dinosaur.

> Even plastic is made out of dead rotted dinosaur.

Not true. Oil (from which most plastic is derived) is formed by bacteria [1].

[1] https://www.thoughtco.com/does-oil-come-from-dinosaurs-10920...

Interesting idea. I would expect such balloons to pop far more readily, especially in a party environment or with human handling. But for an outdoor balloon release it could be just the ticket.

'Biodegradable plastic' is great I'm sure but it promotes bizarre thinking like this. How about we just decide not to have mass-pollution parties for no reason, rather than trying to reduce their impact with expensive new materials?

Of course in the long run you're right, but where traditions are involved, sometimes it can ease the transition. "No balloons" is a much harder sell than "expensive biodegradable balloons", for someone who feels it's an essential thing. Eventually price pressure will cause the tradition to phase out organically, with people feeling like they have a choice, rather than the resentment caused by "no more balloon release parties, starting next week!"

price pressure like a fine or a hefty surcharge at the point of sale would help too, no?

Is this really that much of a thing? Presumably we're mostly dealing with groups - probably mostly charities. Is it really so hard to create public consciousness that releasing a tonne of baloons into the air for no reason is littering that putting loads of effort into designing and promoting alternatives is worth it?

Because changing human behavior on a large enough scale is often orders more difficult than finding a technological alternative.

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