Darien Student Leads Effort To Remove Mylar Balloons From Events

DARIEN, CT — Mylar balloons are a hallmark of any celebration, whether it's a sporting event, graduation, birthday party, or even a school dance, but oftentimes they pose a threat to the environment after they've been discarded or fly away inadvertently.

Kieran Graseck, a junior at Darien High School, is on a mission to stop the use of these balloons at school events and throughout the town as a whole, and he's already off to a good start.

A member of DHS's environmental club, Eco Citizens, Graseck and his fellow club members recently launched a petition at the school to end the use of mylar balloons and reduce latex balloon usage during senior celebrations.

The petition amassed more than 200 signatures.

Through meetings with DHS administration, as well as with Janet Keeler, who is the faculty adviser for Eco Citizens, an AP biology teacher and the senior class representative, Graseck was able to get the school to stop purchasing mylar balloons for senior prom this Friday and graduation in June.

Graseck hopes DHS can serve as an example for other schools in the district, and ultimately the entire town.

"Our town is very ritualistic with how we celebrate, and buying these mylar balloons are essential in some peoples' minds for all celebrations," Graseck told Patch. "Changing the culture is definitely going to be hard, but hopefully if we have enough support and education about the detrimental effects of mylar balloons on the environment, that we can be able to have capacity for our town to change. I think we can accomplish that in the near future."

Graseck began to work on the initiative in January after he was approached by Julie Jones, co-founder of Darien Green Wave, a local environmental advocacy and awareness organization that launched last year.

"He was immediately on board," said Jones, the former chair of the Darien Advisory Commission on Coastal Waters. Jones served on the commission for three years; she has also spent time working on water testing in Long Island Soundwith for the nonprofit Save The Sound.

Jones said that mylar balloons often end up in local waterways where they break down into small pieces and get ingested by wildlife. Humans can then ingest those microplastics from the balloons through consuming fish or other wildlife.

"Parents are celebrating their children with these balloons, which is a wonderful thought, but Kieran and every high school student who signed the petition are basically telling their families that the way to celebrate them is by choosing an option that preserves and protects the environment and their future," Jones said. "This planet is their inheritance, and I'm heartened by our Darien High School students. They're already engaged and building skills they'll need to protect the planet."

Graseck said he hopes to reach out to key suppliers in town, such as grocery stores or other markets, to spread the word about the dangers of mylar and latex balloons. He also wants to educate the Darien High School Parents Association and eliminate the balloons from more school celebrations and sporting events.

Keeler lauded Graseck and his classmates for taking the initiative head on.

"I think it's a great initiative," she said. "I'm supporting him 100 percent."

She also highlighted another project Eco Citizens is currently working on, which is to add posters at local parks to make hikers aware of the organisms they might come into contact with.

Graseck said he's always been passionate about the environment, but that passion ramped up last year when he attended a climate change summit at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"I learned how to advocate successfully and communicate to the public about the issues of climate change, and how to effectively communicate, raise awareness and start initiatives that can have an actual impact on our environment," Graseck said.

He noted he plans on making a petition that can include support from the broader Darien community.

"What hopefully would happen is by next year, that we wouldn't see any mylar balloons at any celebrations, and maybe in the following years, we wouldn't see any mylar balloons at all within our town," he said. "I think that's ambitious, but I'm here for it. We have the capacity to change within our town."