Desert Balloon Project
People forget that “what goes up must come down” when releasing balloons, not realizing that they float away to places they don’t belong and cause harm to wildlife. This issue inspired 15-year-old Christian Daniels to start his own organization – the Desert Balloon Project.
As an avid outdoor enthusiast, Christian started picking up trash on hikes with his family after seeing garbage everywhere they went. One of the items they found often were balloons, which reminded Christian of something he’d learned.
“I read that desert tortoises will get confused and mistake Mylar balloons for desert flowers, so they’ll eat them and die due to suffocation or blockage as a result,” he said. “When we first started, we tried grabbing everything, but between two backpacks, we couldn’t grab much. Balloons were much easier to collect even without a bag.”
With that in mind, the family started going out to collect them more purposefully afterward.
Desert Balloon Project’s Mission
Focusing specifically on balloons while hiking, Daniels founded the Desert Balloon Project in early 2020. He’s made it his mission to pick up Mylar balloons in the desert and educate the public on how releasing balloons is potentially harmful to desert tortoises and other wildlife.
Already hiking hundreds of miles and collecting thousands of balloons, Christian also works to grow an army of supporters to help find balloons on their own hikes and reduce the number of balloons released in the first place.
“I want to show why releasing balloons is bad for the environment. It’s no different than littering,” he said, mentioning his #tiedandinside initiative. Already, the organization has succeeded in this mission.
“It’s amazing how many people come up to him and say they had no idea how harmful [releasing balloons] was,” said Bill Daniels, Christian’s father. “People have even written to him saying that he inspired them to stop a balloon release.”
He then shared how they took a reporter from the Las Vegas Review-Journal out on a balloon search one day to give them a first-hand look at the project’s work. Christian ended up inspiring them as well.
“That reporter told us later that he went home that day and learned that his wife was planning to do a balloon release, and he ended up stopping it altogether,” Bill Daniels said. “It’s amazing how much of an impact Christian has made so far.”
Out in the Desert
Mostly doing family outings in search of balloons, the Daniels family reports going out every two or three days, or as much as they can. Generally, they hike off-trail, concentrating on the desert outskirts around Vegas.
“This is where a lot of the balloons we find end up, where it’s largely out of sight, out of mind,” Christian said. While you might think it’s tough to find a balloon in the desert, the Daniels family finds many every time they go out.
Christian and his father referred back to their outing with the RJ reporter. They brought him out to the Desert National Wildlife Refuge just north of Vegas on the 95. There, the reporter’s cameraman commented that they wondered if they would find any.
“I said, “What are you talking about? There are three right over there behind you,” Christan said, surprising them. That’s one of the things that Christian said he’s learned since starting his organization: “There’s more trash in the desert than you’d expect.”
Christian added that the type of balloon he finds the most is “Happy Birthday” balloons. After that, the top two colors of balloons he sees are blue and pink, signifying that many of these balloons result from gender reveal parties that released balloons purposely or accidentally.
“We also find all sorts of things – mattresses, TVs, cars – you name it. We even find weather balloons on at least every three or four trips we go out,” he said. “Like, hey NOA, quit releasing your trash in the desert.”
Commenting on the oddest things they’ve found while balloon hunting in the middle of the desert, the family said they’ve discovered homemade animal traps, car parts, and entire cars – some of which were stolen or torched.
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Desert Balloon Project and the Community
Partnerships
In the nearly two years since Christian started his organization, he’s made a lot of great connections in the Las Vegas community to help Desert Balloon Project’s mission. One of these partnerships includes NV Energy, which created a brochure for Desert Balloon Project for free.
Christian also partners with organizations like the Protectors of Tule Springs Fossil Beds (“T.U.S.K.”) and the National Park Service. For example, on October 9th, DBP set up an educational tent at the Pleistocene Palooza event held at Tule Springs Fossil Bed National Monument.
At the event, attendees got to meet animals representing the Pleistocene fossils found in the area, including a camel. The Daniels family even brought their pet tortoise Walter out to the event to meet people.
In addition, Republic Services invited the Desert Balloon Project to table at the 2021 Mint 400 Desert Cleanup event in Jean, NV, on November 20th.
“I wrote a letter to Republic services asking if they recycled Mylar balloons; they explained that they could not,” Christian said. “Then they told me about their event, which is similar to what I do. They do a massive cleanup every year and asked me to join them. I’ll educate people about releasing balloons during their event.”
According to the event page, the goal is to “unite the off-road community and clean up waste dumped illegally in the Jean area as well as promote sustainable habits and responsible public land use to improve Southern Nevada’s pristine desert landscape.”
This event runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Republic Services asks that people pre-register for this event here.
Honors
Back in August, Christian received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congressman Steven Horsford’s office. This certificate honored Christian for creating the Desert Balloon Project and his environmental work in preserving Nevada’s public lands and saving desert tortoises.
Grassroots Work
After recognizing the organization, Samantha Bivins, a representative from Horsford’s office, connected Christian with a Nevada state senator who will work with the Desert Balloon Project to pass legislation to help further their mission.
“He’s working with us on drafting a bill to ban mass balloon releases,” Christian said. “This will probably happen sometime next year, during the next legislative session.”
In addition to their legislative efforts, the Desert Balloon Project will also start speaking at schools soon to spread further awareness about the issue of releasing balloons.
Desert Balloon Project’s Biggest Challenges
One of Christians’ most significant challenges has been connecting with Party City to partner with them to spread awareness about the issue.
“We just wanted to put up a sign where they sell the balloons that let people know the dangers of releasing balloons and the impacts that have on the environment,” he said. “I’m not asking them to stop selling balloons, just to help make people aware and encourage them to be responsible with that product.”
At this time, Party City has not yet responded to Christian’s letter reaching out to them. Besides this challenge, Christian’s most significant obstacles are balancing his time with the project and beating the summer heat.
“It can be hard finding the time to go out and do it, especially with school and training for the fire department,” he explained. “And in the summer months, it’s even more difficult getting out there with how bad the heat is. So when we’d go on hikes, we’d have to go shorter distances and at cooler times.”
Now that it’s cooling off again, Christian reports that he and his family can go on six to 10-mile hikes again and go on more outings.
Christian’s Biggest Take-aways
In addition to the balloons he takes from the desert, Christian also takes lessons and experiences with him and creates memories along the way.
“My favorite part is that I’m going out and hiking,” he said. “Even though we’re looking for balloons, it’s awesome seeing nature and all the wildlife too, like deer, burros, and of course, desert tortoises.”
Christian then shared some critical information about the project’s poster animal and what to do if you encounter them: “Don’t pick up wild tortoises; they’ll release their water and pee on you in defense. They need that water to survive, so you can dehydrate them by picking them.”
Lastly, he shared his most important message for everyone to hear: “Don’t release balloons!”
“Everyone loves balloons, and we don’t want to see them go away,” he said. “We just want people to be responsible about how they use and dispose of balloons.”
Christian also added that he hopes to see a sustainable balloon that is legitimately biodegradable. Presently, there are no genuine biodegradable balloons. Experiments on balloons claiming to biodegrade showed that it takes years for these products to break down and become indistinguishable from surrounding soil.
Meaning that for now, there are no safe ways to release a balloon. That said, you wouldn’t want to release a balloon regardless of whether it can break down or not, as it can still cause harm before it degrades. So instead, find ways to safely celebrate and use alternatives to balloons like bubbles, butterfly releases, flags, kites, or flowers.
#GetinMotion With the Desert Balloon Project
There are many ways to help support the Desert Balloon Project and its #TiesAndInside initiative. The most impactful actions include finding and picking up balloons on your hikes, as well as spreading awareness about the issue and the organization.
Pick Up Balloons on Your Walks and Hikes
“There are so many out there, and I can’t get them all myself,” Christian said. “I need a little help.” While Christian and his family mostly search balloons independently as a family, they occasionally invite other people out to join them.
Take part in their Fall(-ing From the Sky) Challenge, coming up next month from November 25th through the 28th. During the three-day event, Christian challenges everyone to take a mile hike out and back around any city and pick up mylar balloons.
“Send me your pics, and the person or group who collects the most will be the Desert Balloon Project cover photo and win some DBP merch!” Christian said in his Facebook post announcing the challenge. “Don’t get lost, take a friend, and be safe! Our tortoises will thank you (when they wake up)!”
To see when they’re planning public hikes for the project or see their other upcoming events, follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Buy Some Desert Balloon Project Swag
Desert Balloon Project also sells merchandise like stickers, shirts, and reusable water bottles for those unable to get out and find balloons. All the proceeds help fund their educational materials.
To purchase any merchandise, contact the project through the social media pages or email them at desertballoonproject@gmail.com. In addition, the family is currently setting up the online store for the project, available soon.
The organization also accepts donations, which helps its efforts and helps track its reach outside of Las Vegas.
“We had a tortoise group in California that voted to send $100 to the project, so we used the money to make the stickers,” Bill Daniels said. “Christian sent all of the members of that group stickers as a thank you. And, the Oceanic Society even came across the project and sent him a shirt.”
To donate, contact the organization through their social media pages or by email.
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