Just had someone send this to me this morning, found it interesting. A UNL English Teacher and Environmentalist is calling for the Balloon Tradition to be replaced due to the new balloons not being bio-degradable.
The petition says the “supposedly biodegradable latex” balloons travel hundreds to thousands of miles, posing a risk of ensnaring wildlife with their ribbons.
Now, why is this posted here and not, say, in the football section? Because there are certain folks that don't understand that politics don't belong in that forum, and anything environmental seems to devolve with certain folks into something less than desirable.
IMO if the balloons are being advertised as biodegradable and we have examples where that isn't the case, then this should be investigated by the University and changes made if these new biodegradable balloons are not as advertised.
As to whether the replacement is going to actual, proven biodegradable balloons, or replacing the tradition completely, I don't know. But as innocuous as it sounds, I've heard of farmers in central and western Nebraska having problems with livestock ingesting deflated balloons that have landed in their field (not known if it's a balloon from DoNU or not) and ultimately killing said livestock.