Chinese Lanterns and their effects on birds (1 Viewer)

[Nightranger]

It seems to be a sign of the times these days to let off lanterns and fireworks for the slightest thing. I remember the days when all you got was a few fireworks on bonfire night and that was it.

This is very true Dave and one of my pet hates. I never liked fireworks when I was young and I still do not like them. Unfortunately, it is a legacy of the millennium celebrations along with charging to drink in pubs on New Year's Eve. :eek!:

Some good points on here (apart from the bickering ) and with a story about a whale that died eating plastic bags, it is perhaps a good time to reflect how hazardous some of these things can be:

Chinese lanterns.
Ballon races.
Beer can plastic rings.
Plastic net bags (used to hold anything from garlic to peanuts for garden birds).
Plastic carrier bags.

Add your own of course but I would like to think most people on here are pretty good about the way they dispose of any or all of these items.

 

[Peewit]

This is very true Dave and one of my pet hates. I never liked fireworks when I was young and I still do not like them. Unfortunately, it is a legacy of the millennium celebrations along with charging to drink in pubs on New Year's Eve. :eek!:

Some good points on here (apart from the bickering ) and with a story about a whale that died eating plastic bags, it is perhaps a good time to reflect how hazardous some of these things can be:

Chinese lanterns.
Ballon races.
Beer can plastic rings.
Plastic net bags (used to hold anything from garlic to peanuts for garden birds).
Plastic carrier bags.

Add your own of course but I would like to think most people on here are pretty good about the way they dispose of any or all of these items.

I have to agree about the Beer Can Plastic rings as one of my main pet hates - I cut mine in pieces before disposing of them in the recycle bin.

The amount of times, I have seen plastic rings to hold beer/juice cans together making their way towards hurting wildlife through TV programmes that point out issues that we as humans cost wildlife.
Swans ending up with plastic around their necks and even Hedgehogs circled with a plastic holder around their middles - so not nice.

Another thing to add to the list is

Disgarded Fishing line :

which affects all sorts of water based life. Mute swans swallowing fishing lines, and the lines ending up entangled around their legs.
The worse case senario I have seen so far is a Toad with fishing line around its middle. It was so tight that the poor animal had grown twice its size due to the body swelling like a ballon (this was on wildlife SOS) on channel 5 this morning to any early birds here. The poor animal must have been relieved to have its blood supply back after removal of the fishing line.

All it needs is for any 'unwanted' fishing tackle to be removed by fisherman - not a lot to ask really.

Regards
Kathy
x

 

[lashinala]

Lord help us here in the southern US if those lanterns ever get popular in our area. We'd burn half our county with a few errant ones considering the dry weather here....great WMD if your enemy is downwind, I guess. Can't see much real use though.

 

[Peewit]

Lord help us here in the southern US if those lanterns ever get popular in our area. We'd burn half our county with a few errant ones considering the dry weather here....great WMD if your enemy is downwind, I guess. Can't see much real use though.

So true, the Lanterns would set off a lot of forest and wildlfires in the USA area so easily. The more open and dry areas are tinderboxes are easily exposed to such problems.

We see what happens when fires get out of control on the world news, and it is uncomfortable to watch a the best of times

Chinese Lanterns are are 'cheap' gimmicks that are so not needed in society at all, so simply removing them would be the best thing to do.

Regards
Kathy
x

 

[Steve Lister]

We managed perfectly well without these stupid lantern things for years - why have they appeared now?

I fail to see why they have not been made illegal. There is no earthly reason to set them off, and the damage they can cause 'anonymously' is dreadful.

Ban them.

Steve

 

[Bird_Bill]

Lord help us here in the southern US if those lanterns ever get popular in our area. We'd burn half our county with a few errant ones considering the dry weather here....great WMD if your enemy is downwind, I guess. Can't see much real use though.

There is an advertisment for them on this page showing here. Someone likes them.
Between fireworks and these things, have the notion to camp out on roof with lawn sprinklers up there.

 

[lashinala]

Hooray for Hawaii!
They banned 'aerial luminaries' (sky lanterns):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303292204577519300733291684.html

 

[Mr Happy]

and i beleive that Brazil, most of Germany, a city in China who's name escapes me and Australia have also banned them

I think it's either Switzerland or Belguim have not only banned their use but also the construction of, selling of and importing of the ruddy things

 

[Peewit]

Hooray for Hawaii!
They banned 'aerial luminaries' (sky lanterns):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303292204577519300733291684.html

Hi lashinala

Looks like common sense prevails here - thank you for your article :t::t::t:

Maybe this is a new trend now, and it will be noted all over the world - to ban all of these toys.

Regards
Kathy
x

 

[Sandra (Taylor)]

Hi lashinala

Looks like common sense prevails here - thank you for your article :t::t::t:

Maybe this is a new trend now, and it will be noted all over the world - to ban all of these toys.

Regards
Kathy
x

Don't hold your breath Kathy.

Maybe farmers should put forward a case too and add to that of conservationists. These things seem to be a menace.

 

[pianoman]

Just had a look on Amazon at these. There are eco-friendly versions for sale. My a*se!

I've come to regard with cynicism absolutely any claim by a manufacturer or other vested interest in the eco-friendliness of a product.
They've long since realised that it's only important to SEEM green; actually BEING green is not necessary.
Oil companies spend much more on advertising supposedly green initiatives than they do on the initiatives themselves.
Even coffee manufacturers have taken much more recently to putting pictures of happy plantation workers and even vaguely fairtrade-like logos on their packaging. Buyer beware!

 

[Bird_Bill]

The only thing eco-friendly about them are thought that an individual is paying $1 for a paper bag that cost fractions of one penny to produce. Add a 1000% surcharge to electrical appliances and the demand for electrical energy will go down. Same goes for trees and these firebombs .

To an extent, doesnt this thread promote them. In a small way it generates sensationalistic controversy where perhaps very little existed before. Know in my neighborhood, the human threat is percieved as the priorty.

 

[lashinala]

Actually, I think this thread is a good thing: I had no idea what they were before the thread and would have thought "Hey, that's a cool floating light" if I had seen one, never knowing the damage they can do in a dry area. Now I know what happens when things go wrong with them. Chance favors the prepared mind.

 

[Bird_Bill]

Actually, I think this thread is a good thing: I had no idea what they were before the thread and would have thought "Hey, that's a cool floating light" if I had seen one, never knowing the damage they can do in a dry area. Now I know what happens when things go wrong with them. Chance favors the prepared mind.

Dont disagree. Do fear dangerous ground is being tread on.
CNN running commercials displaying them with a "child like" sense of awe
is more of a threat than this thread.