Can you imagine a world in which balloons have vanished? No balloons on your birthday. No balloon bouquets to cheer you up when you’re sick. No balloons floating down the street at parades. What a sad, dull world that would be! But some people are saying it’s time for balloons to go the way of the dinosaurs. They say balloons are bad for the environment and dangerous to animals. They are wrong.“There is little evidence to support claims of the danger that balloons pose to marine animals,” says Dan Flynn, chairman of the Balloon Council, an organization of balloon makers and sellers. According to Flynn, the real problem is plastic trash—things like bags and bottles. Still, even if balloons do pose some minor threat to wildlife, the solution isn’t to ban all balloons forever. That would be an extreme overreaction. The solution is simply to stop releasing them. Instead, dispose of balloons properly: Deflate them and cut any ribbons or strings into small pieces before throwing the balloons away. Balloons placed in the trash are unlikely to end up in the bellies of marine creatures or as litter on beaches. Proper disposal will also solve the problem of balloons getting caught in power lines and causing outages.Another way to ensure your balloons don’t harm the environment is to choose ones made of latex rather than Mylar. Latex is biodegradable. Mylar—a plastic material that looks like foil—is not. Then there is the so-called problem of helium. Yes, helium is rare. But only 5 to 7 percent of the world’s helium supply is used to inflate balloons, according to the Balloon Association, a British trade organization. This amount of helium is so small it is basically negligible. The Balloon Council has been working with consumers and retailers to make sure everyone knows how to use and dispose of balloons responsibly.“Balloons bring people so much joy,” says Flynn. “There aren’t a lot of dangers. When they are properly handled, they are very safe.”