About two decades ago, Christina Trapani was working with the Virginia Aquarium’s Stranding Response Program and started noticing a trend with some of the sea turtles they rescued.
“We would find bits and pieces of balloons in their bellies,” she said. “It was obvious that this was something that could be affecting wildlife.”
Trapani’s experience at the aquarium set her on a yearslong quest to curb balloon litter, which has proven pervasive in coastal Virginia.
She’s now director of the nonprofit Clean Virginia Waterways, which recently completed a decade-long survey of trash on Fisherman Island off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
Balloons and their ribbons topped the list of trash they identified, with nearly 6,000 pieces found on the island between 2014 and 2024. The group also collected lots of plastic bottles, shotgun shell, food wrappers and fishing gear.
“When we look at our coastal beaches, especially the remote beaches, balloons are almost always in the top three types of litter that we record,” Trapani said.
Balloons are a particular concern in coastal Virginia because of easterly winds that blow them here from all over, and waves that bring them to shore. She’s found balloons bearing logos from Kansas, North Carolina, New York and Ohio.
“Anything that's released inland is going to get blown offshore, and then it's going to wash back up eventually,” Trapani said. “We'd be out on the islands and actually watching balloons come in, which is really sad.”
Environmental groups previously documented balloon debris at False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach and a few barrier islands off the Eastern Shore.
The recent report focused on Fisherman Island because of limited funding, Trapani said. It included site surveys twice a year.
Almost 70% of the balloon litter recorded was concentrated on the highest sections of the beach, which serve as critical habitat for nesting shorebirds and diamondback terrapins.
Virginia lawmakers took action on the issue in 2021, passing a ban on intentional balloon releases with a civil penalty of $25 per balloon for violations. Virginians were previously allowed to release up to 50 balloons per hour.
Balloon litter has decreased since the new law took effect, Trapani said.
Before, an average of 240.6 pieces of balloon litter were found per mile, according to the report from Clean Virginia Waterways. That dropped to 174.9 afterward.
But there’s still a long way to go, Trapani said. She’s working on a program to allow people to recycle balloons and other party decorations.
It started after they connected with Balloon Mission, a New York-based organization that aims to reduce balloon waste.
The group works with TerraCycle, a recycling company in New Jersey, to offload balloons collected through cleanups or donations. The company converts them into materials used in manufacturing, such as for industrial flooring.
Trapani hopes to recycle 1 million balloons within three years in Virginia. That could include retailers or individuals who want to participate and ship balloons straight to TerraCycle.
“We have to find another way to dispose of them,” she said. “If you're going to use balloons, let's just recycle them and give them a second life.”
Through grant money from the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, Clean Virginia Waterways bought 11 bins that will be used to accept balloon waste across Hampton Roads.
That includes one station already open at the Virginia Aquarium, and another coming soon to the office of Keep Norfolk Beautiful, which is based near the Virginia Zoo.
The newest bin debuted at Seatack Elementary School near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Students gathered in the school gymnasium last week for a brief kickoff by Trapani.
“How many of you have birthday parties and use balloons for decorations?” she asked, and hands shot in the air. “OK, so when you have a birthday party and you’re done with your balloons, you’re going to be able to bring them back to school.”
The bin now sits in Seatack’s main hallway.
Marie Culver, a gifted resource teacher, helps lead Seatack’s sustainability efforts. She said students have already shown interest in environmental work, such as helping with a community garden and turning trash into “trash talking” sculptures of turtles and jellyfish that now hang around the school.
“It’s a great piece to introduce it to our students so they can live a life of sustainability,” Culver said. “It seems like our kids really gravitate toward these kinds of real world problems.”
She runs a club for some students called “Eco-Heroes,” but hopes schoolwide programs like balloon recycling will reach everyone.
“It’s just a clear, simple vision to us: Take care of the earth where you live, help our world, help our community and always give back to what nature gives to us.”
You can learn more about the balloon recycling program and check for bin locations on the Clean Virginia Waterways website.
