Patrick Pastor

CMST 220: Public Speaking

5/28/14
Persuasive Speech Assignment

Speaker: Patrick Pastor

General Purpose: To Persuade
Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, the audience will be able to list reasons
not to release helium balloons into the air.
Proposition of policy: Because balloon releases threaten the environment and waste
valuable helium, we should find a different way of celebrating.
Introduction: How many of you have launched helium balloons to celebrate a
birthday, a sports event, a wedding, a graduation, or to say goodbye to a loved
one? How many of you have wondered what happened to the balloon or the helium?
I have, so I did some research on the topic. I found out what happens, and why it
matters.
From my research, I believe that there are 3 reasons to stop releasing helium
balloonsit endangers the environment and wastes valuable helium, and there are
plenty of other ways to celebrate.
Body:
I.

Balloon litter poses a risk to the environment.

A. As the saying goes, what goes up must come down. Balloons
come down, and they can come down far from where they were
released.
1. While a majority of balloons explode into small fragments once
they rise up to two miles above ground, up to 10 percent return
to earth semi-inflated.
2. According to Clean Virginia Waterways, during the 1999 Beach
Sweep cleanup along the eastern seaboard, over 32,000 pieces
of balloon waste were picked up on beaches.
3. Balloons can drift a long distance. A study conducted at Clemson
University found that balloons travel an average distance of 23
miles, but some can travel up to 280 miles or more.
B. The balloon industry defends balloon releases by claiming that latex
balloons are biodegradable.

1. What they dont tell you is that the process is slow, taking on
average six months to a year depending on environmental factors.
2. In seawater, balloons deteriorate slower than in air. They retain
their elasticity even after 12 months, according to Dr. Anthony
Andrady.
3. That amount of time is more than enough to harm wildlife.
C. Marine animalsdolphins, whales, seabirds and sea turtlesoften
swallow balloon litter.
1. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, sea turtles have often been found with balloon pieces
in their stomachs. The turtles seem to mistake the balloons for
jellyfish.
2. Clean Virginia Waterways cite studies that sea turtles show a
preference for colored balloons over other debris.
3. When they swallow balloons, it blocks their digestive tracts, so
they starve to death.
D. Birds and other animals on land and sea also get tangled up in
plastic string from balloons.
Transition: The balloon itself has returned to earth, but what happens to the
helium? Its gone
II.

forever, into the atmosphere.

This matters because helium is a finite resource, and using it for balloons
limits its availability for other, more important uses.
A. Helium is very rare on earth.
1. While there are traces of helium in the earths atmosphere, the
quantities are too small to recover it effectively. So most of the
earths helium supply comes from the decay of radioactive
elements in the earths crust.
2. Helium is obtained as a byproduct of natural gas drilling.
3. There are hundreds of natural gas fields in many countries, but
there are only a few natural gas fields in the world that have the
right geology to yield recoverable amounts of helium.
4. 75 to 80 percent of the worlds helium is obtained from the United
States, where most of these fields are located. Others are located in
Russia, Algeria, and Qatar.

B. Helium has unique properties that make it useful for life-saving medical
diagnostics and economically vital manufacturing.
1. Helium has the lowest boiling point of any elementonly 4 degrees
above absolute zero so liquid helium is the only material that can
be used to cool the superconducting magnets used in magnetic
resonance imaging. MRI is used for diagnosing heart disease and
cancer, and for other life-saving applications.
2. Helium is extremely inertit doesnt react with other materials
and conducts heat better than other gases, so it is also used for arc
welding of high-strength metals, and for creating a controlled
environment to make semiconductors and optical fibers.
C. Largely because of its applications in the high-tech industry, demand
for helium has recently grown far faster than supply.
1. Physicist Robert Richardson, who won the Nobel Prize for research
into the properties of helium, predicted several years ago that at
the current rate of helium use and production, we may run out of
usable helium within the next hundred years. Other experts, like Dr.
Peter Wothers at Cambridge University, have estimated 30 to 50
years.
2. For many years, the price of helium has been kept artificially low by
US government policy. The Helium Privatization Act of 1996 ordered
the federal government to sell off US helium resources at a fixed
rate by 2015. It was extended last year.
3. According to Dr. Richardson, if the price of helium reflected supply
and demand, the cost of a helium party balloon would be $100.
Transition: Think about that for a moment, how valuable, how useful, and how
scarce helium is. Is it a good idea to send it back into the atmosphere, where
we will never get it back? Is that really the best way to celebrate?
III.

Clean Virginia Waterways and the UK Marine Conservation Societies have

listed a number of ways to celebrate without helium balloons.
A. You can fill balloons with air instead of helium.
1. Put prize tickets inside of balloons and have people pop them.

2. You can attach them to a frame or stand to make a balloon

sculpture. PartyCity.com and other crafts and party planning websites
have instructions for do-it-yourself balloon sculptures.
B. You can also celebrate without balloons entirely.
1. Instead of balloons filled with helium, use streamers or banners.
2. You can blow bubbles instead of releasing balloons.
3. If you are thinking of releasing balloons in memory of a friend or
loved one, think of doing something more positive in their memory,
like planting a tree, or making a contribution to a local charity.
Conclusion: Next time you are planning a celebration or commemoration, think
about the consequences of balloon litter and wasted helium, and try some of the
alternatives I have listed instead. I am going to close with a short phrase that I hope
everyone remembers: Helium balloons: just say no, dont let them go.

Works Cited
Chan, Moses; and Lancaster, Jim. US needs a strategy on helium. CNN.com,
Cable News Network,
March 2, 2013. Web. May 28, 2014.
Clean Virginia Waterways. Balloons As Litter- A Problem We Can Solve. Clean
Virginia Waterways,
Longwood University, n.d. Web. May 26, 2014.
Connor, Steve. A ballooning problem: the great helium shortage. The
Independent. The Independent,
January 4, 2013. Web. May 28, 2014.
Harper, Michael. Helium Shortage Leaves Scientists in No Mood to Celebrate.
RedOrbit.com,
RedOrbit, Inc., March 20, 2012. Web. May 25, 2014.
Helium shortage threatens semiconductor, smartphone, and TV manufacturers.
Reuters India,
Thomson Reuters, Sept 19, 2013. Web. May 28, 2014.
Larrew, Thomas. The Balloon Release Pregame Tradition or Wildgame
Malnutrition? Creative Inquiry,
Clemson University, n.d. Web. May 28, 2014.
Launch Event Alternatives. Marine Conservation Society. Marine Conservation
Society UK, n.d. Web.
May 28, 2014.
Rizzo, Johnna. The Hot Air That Lifts Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade May Be Going
Down, National
Geographic.com, National Geographic Society, November 28,
2013. Web. May 31, 2014.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Wildlife Factsheet- Balloon
Releases. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, October 2005.
Web. May 28, 2014.
The world is running out of helium: Nobel Prize winner PhysOrg.com, Phys.Org,
August 24, 2010. Web. May 28,
2014.