TOWN OF BELGIUM, Wis. — A Belgium resident is raising awareness about the increasing amount of mylar balloons washing up on Lake Michigan's shoreline, creating both environmental concerns and potential safety hazards.
Doug Starck has been walking the beaches of Belgium since moving to the town almost a decade ago. During these walks, he's been finding an increasing number of mylar balloons along the beach.
Watch: Belgium neighbor says balloons from releases are washing up on Ozaukee beaches
In a three month period, Starck collected nearly 50 of them to throw away. He says other neighbors in the area are doing the same.
"[There are] Valentine's balloons, graduation balloons, 'Happy Birthday' balloons," Starck said.
The issue extends beyond environmental concerns. In March, balloons released from a Milwaukee celebration hit a power line, causing a major outage.
The metallic coating on mylar balloons can create dangerous electrical shorts when they come in contact with power lines, according to We Energies.
"It's pollution. It's littering. It really needs to stop," Starck said.
This ongoing problem prompted Starck to bring his collection of balloons to our recent TMJ4 Let's Talk listening session in Port Washington. When we met up with him again Wednesday, he also brought a dress made by a neighbor from other recovered balloons.
"It's throwing your trash for someone else to pickup," Starck said.
Starck hopes raising awareness will help keep beaches clean and prevent power outages caused by wayward balloons.
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