Friends of Animals is applauding the CT General Assembly for stepping up and protecting the state’s beloved marine life by passing legislation on Tuesday May 5th that bans the release of lighter-than-air- balloons. This makes Connecticut the sixth state to ban balloon releases.

“The seabirds, turtles, other marine life, as well as the human residents of Connecticut, deserve this result. We put all our efforts into this bill this session because we know every balloon is a potential killer of wildlife,” said Priscilla Feral, president of Darien-based Friends of Animals. 

Balloons and their plastic ribbons, tie-off disks, and clips are non-biodegradable, or slow-to-degrade, dangerous litter that kills turtles, fish, birds, and other wildlife we love seeing at the beach, in estuaries or along waterways. When animals mistake deflated balloons for food, or ingest latex or Mylar pieces, it can block their digestive tracts and lead to starvation. Ribbons can wrap around animals, causing injury, restricting movement, or leading to strangulation.

This suffering is avoidable.

“It was a crime against nature that it was legal to knowingly release, or organize the release of, up to nine helium or lighter-than-air balloons within a 24-hour period in Connecticut,” added Feral. “We are grateful to all the legislators who voted in favor of this legislation, and especially to Sen. Rick Lopes; state Rep. John-Michael Parker, state Rep. Aundre Bumgardener, and state Rep. Joe Gresko for always championing the bill and for giving it the energy it needed to get to the Governor’s desk.”

“Discouraging the release of lighter-than-air balloons is a win for the environment as many find their way to our waterways and beaches,” said Deputy Speaker Joe Gresko (D-Stratford). “Educating customers as a way to modify behavior will result in lasting change.”

FoA is committed to rolling out an educational awareness campaign this summer. 

Florida was the most recent state to ban intentional balloon releases in June of 2024, following in the footsteps of Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware.

FoA helped CT legislators understand that this was an issue of concern in CT—in 2024, Save the Sound held 92 clean-up events in Connecticut and New York and collected 9,997 plastic pieces and 396 balloons. We also showed legislators that total balloon release bans have been effective in other states. 

Clean Virginia Waterways recently published a report on 11 years of monitoring for balloon litter in the state and found that numbers have dropped significantly since Virginia’s law went into effect in July of 2021.Prior to the 2021 law, litter monitoring on Fisherman’s Island revealed that an average of 240.6 pieces of balloon litter were found per mile. After the law was implemented, the per-mile average dropped to 174.9.

In nearby Delaware, a law banning balloon releases went into effect July 1, 2022, and the trend there is also in the right direction with fewer balloons being found during its Coastal Cleanup. In 2017, 848 balloons were found; in 2018 724; in 2019 583, in 2024, 235 and 2025, 216. (There is no data from 2020 or 2022, and the 2023 cleanup was cancelled due to a storm.)