The Vancouver Park Board is looking to ban balloons within parks, community centres and any other areas in its jurisdiction.
Park Board Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon tabled the motion.
LISTEN: CKNW reporter Emily Lazatin speaks to Stuart MacKinnon about the proposed balloon ban
“It’s that problem of over time and where they end up,” Mackinnon said.
“They end up in landfills or at the centre of our streets. Right now in the corner of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are huge patches of decomposing plastic that takes hundreds sometimes thousands of years to decompose, causing a huge problem for us environmentally.”
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One way to enforce this rule is through contracts when people rent space from the board.
“I’m not looking for balloon police here, I don’t think that would work,” Mackinnon said.
“My motion doesn’t including fining people. If one of the park rangers was in the park and saw people with balloons, he would tell them that balloons aren’t allowed and to please dispose of them responsibly.”
If the motion is passed, Mackinnon said he’d like to see signs in parks and community centres to warn people.
LISTEN: Listeners on the Jon McComb show react to the proposed ban
The board will vote on the motion on Sept 18.
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