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This past Monday, several communities in northeast Pennsylvania celebrated Memorial Day by releasing hundreds of balloons into the air to commemorate fallen soldiers and war heroes.

Most of these balloons will end up miles away from the source, as litter in our parks, forests, waterways and communities.

Discharging balloons into the air is no different from throwing trash out of car windows, illegal dumping or leaving dog waste on a neighbor’s property. Under ordinary circumstances, people who commit these offenses could be charged with misdemeanors and imprisoned or fined up to a thousand dollars. Littered roadways, properties and illegal dump sites cost Pennsylvania millions of dollars each year in cleanup costs, and yet, year after year these wasteful balloon releases continue to blight our landscapes and communities, with no penalties attached.

In a televised Memorial Day event that appeared on a local news broadcast, celebrants attached the names of loved ones to balloon strings before releasing them into the atmosphere.

Seriously, can these people find no better way to memorialize a loved one than to attach his or her name to a cheap latex toy that will end up in a gutter somewhere among the used condoms and cigarette butts? Those responsible for this intentional littering should be required to track down every balloon and clean up the mess they made.

Ellie Doberman

Lake Harmony

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