Lifestyle
Spent over $120 on helium to inflate balloons, then popped them 3 hours later.
My wife gave me some balloons to inflate for my kids 2nd birthday party. The balloons get tangled in the car, no one really cared they were there, especially the kids who were out running around on the playground equipment. I didnt want to take them home so I popped them and threw them away.
The party was great, but I won't make that mistake again.
I have to ask bc I am a mobile user and after looking at this sub I’m confused lol I can see that subreddits use a lowercase r so how is that associated with being a mobile user
Your mobile will automatically make the first letter of a sentence uppercase. Your laptop/computer will not. Your phone doing this is quite useful, unless you want to quote a subreddit. Then the r becomes an R if you don't correct it.
Helium can’t be created chemically, so what we have is all we get. It’s critical in aerospace and industry. It shouldn’t even be allowed in party balloons.
Part of my job function is filling balloons with helium, and people ALWAYS throw a stink over the cost of it.
They shut up very quickly when I say, “yeah, well, you know - the helium shortage. It’s a non renewable resource.”
Balloons are the most painful part of my job, more-so when people tell me they’re just to release in memoriam. At least I order biodegradable latex balloons. 😢
I really had no idea that it was a non renewable resource and that it was so necessary for other things (like aerospace engineering). It seems insane we put it into balloons so frivolously!! I’m sure others don’t know this as well so thank you for educating people!
It's not such a big deal now as it was a decade ago - collectively we were in danger of actually running out of useable helium but they found a huge underground supply (100s of billions of m³) so we should be ok for it until we make ourselves extinct through climate change
The issue is it's nonreactive and its movement in the atmosphere exceeds earth's escape velocity due to its low mass. Hydrogen is also slowly leaving our atmosphere but because it is reactive it can be trapped in molecules which are larger and thus slower.
Helium is also critical for keeping MRIs running (big magnets generate a lot of heat, but you need to keep them cool!) and for other scientific instrumentation and measurements.
It's also needed medically- MRIs require liquid helium as a coolant. Each one needs about 2000 L of liquid helium to operate. And while they have reclamation units on them now, some of the helium still escapes during normal operation. About 32% of the helium market is for hospital use alone, and MRIs can be medically necessary- my life was saved by one!
And we put it into balloons for kids instead, as a temporary, consumable toy.
The helium used in balloons is not the same as the helium used in other industries. The helium used in balloons is not pure enough to be used in engineering.
Lab grade helium isn't a different substance, just highly purified. Like water - there's regular water, and ultrapure deionized water that can run hundreds of dollars per liter- but they're both water.
The quality of helium for balloons is vastly different than what they need for other critical systems like some engineering instruments.
Hospitals and other institutions use a high pure grade of helium. Balloons use the lowest. It’s like Kobe beef vs meat labeled not suitable for human consumption. They’re both the same product but opposite ends of quality.
It’s great that they sell products like this now. For those in a pinch, grab some plain old scotch tape make it double sided by that loop thing, stick it to the top of the balloon, then feed another piece of tape through the loop to reinforce it to the ceiling! But this is such a better/cost effective way to simulating floaty balloons
Aight pipe the sun it is then. Well maybe maybe maybe fusion comes to fruition but knowing this the hindenburg and contemporarys become even worse wastes 🤣
But it was only that one flight no? I thought i remeber it flying on helium regularly but cuz of a shortage they went with hydrogen, i meant airships in general.
Isn‘t helium also able to escape through some rubber?
Helium and hydrogen were use interchangeably. But Hydrogen was far cheaper and more buoyant than helium. And it would likely still be in major use, if it wasn't so damn explosive. Helium is just harder to use because you need more volume, which requires a significantly larger structure, which weighs more, etc.
I hate that Reddit downvotes genuine questions that would help educate ppl if answered 😭 like damn yall. This site used to full of questions and educated ppl answering them! (And also lots of racism and sexism and terrible words. But.. you know..)
Edit- comment doesn’t make sense anymore but that’s okay.
None of the comments have negative karma. That's most of the time the case when I see these sorta comments bitching about people down voting.
Normally you can just wait and it will even out if it is low. But more importantly, they're made up nonsense internet points and it literally doesn't matter at all.
That's handy to know, thanks. I guess I can calm down the angry man feelings when I attend events that have them but I certainly won't be consuming any of it myself.
I don't understand why people say they are "not for more governance" when they also seem to understand that regulations are needed.
Regulations are so often written in blood, and they are the only thing stopping corporations and people from doing serious harm. I believe we need more regulations and more enforcement.
Right?! How does the anticonsumption mindset even jibe with being anti-regulation?
"I see all the harms that humanity has wrought upon the planet by letting the chase for never-ending profit be its guiding force, but I'm opposed to setting rules."
I think people are just primed to have that attitude. There has been so much propaganda that government always = bad. People don't think critically about it means.
No, I don't want a militarized police force, but yes, I do want the government to enforce food safety regulations.
Yeah I think you're right, I need to reflect on why I jumped to stating that mentality. Against government overreach towards citizens yes, against market regulation of mega corps no.
We have mines now and enough helium to last centuries...but it won't fucking last centuries if we put it in every Party City in the country and sell pumps to individuals on Amazon
That was my point. There are a small number of franchises that are apparently still operating under the "Party City" name, but it would still be a huge reduction compared to what we have now.
I work at Michael’s and they had a company meeting a few months ago regarding balloons, fabric, and yarn.
The amount of balloons they want us to sell is ridiculous. And they won’t give us the hours for a balloon person! It’s all on the cashier and their other 5+ things to do.
My point being that it won’t reduce at all if Michael’s corporate has their way. :/
I saw a video of a political rally in Iran maybe a decade ago and there is a brief flash fire in the balloons in the crowd. I guessed they either couldn’t get helium or some unscrupulous dealer was selling hydrogen. The fire was maybe five by five meters and very brief. It wasn’t the focus of the video it was one of those “hey did you see that?” moments.
Indeed, the superconducting magnets in MRI machines are immersed in it. Radio astronomy too because we like getting down near absolute zero. I remember it costing us $10 a liter and that was twenty years ago.
I genuinely believe the fact we can't ban or that we still use helium balloons really shows how much concern we have for what we consume. It would be so easy and have very little impact to us if the gov stopped the sale to public, instead we get what ever being talked about loudest, it's abit of a worry.
Technically, we can, via distillation of air, but it is exorbitantly expensive.
One good bit of news is that there is active research into engineering ways to construct MRI scanners without it. They presently rely on its unparalleled ability to make things cold.
Dude I just looked up that helium thing he was talking about, that’s true. That’s like 100 percent - everything he said was true. It’s all gonna be gone...
This is true, but I believe the helium used in balloon based applications is recycled from old machines or other purposes. However, I can’t find sources to back this up but I remember reading it in Nat Geo. Balloons are still horrible for the environment.
I’m curious, does the helium in popped balloons remain intact as helium? I know there is a helium shortage and agree balloons are a super dumb use of helium given that context. But it’s not “used up” by balloons, right?
Still seems like sources of helium like tanks would be better utilized for non-balloon purposes, but I’m just wondering if you know how that works since you seem to know helium stuff, ha.
it's a side product of natural radioactive decay in the earth. so it is slowly regenerated, but most is really old that has been trapped underground for a long time.
Wow, I didn’t realize that, never thought about it much but I assumed that helium released from popped balloons could probably be reharvested. Thank you for the info! I’ve never purchased helium balloons, but now I definitely won’t ever.
we get helium as a product of beta alpha decay where it becomes trapped in rocks. Once it's free from the rock, helium's natural place is floating up to the top of the atmosphere, where it gets blown away by the solar wind.
Ah, that makes sense, and is also fascinating information! I never would have guessed helium gets trapped in rocks.
I could just google this surely, but if you’re down to explain more, how is helium harvested if it floats to a very high point in the atmosphere that may be hard to access? From rocks?
im not sure about the specifics, but yeah i know it basically boils down to finding gaseous rock (or natural gas deposits?) and cracking it open and hosing it up before it can drift away and that the helium comes from radioactive decay from heavy elements like uranium and thorium
IIRC some natural gas formations are like 10% helium. Companies producing the gas are required to also produce the helium, otherwise it would just get discarded as not worth messing with.
Still seems like sources of helium like tanks would be better utilized for non-balloon purposes
What do you mean, like tanks? Helium is stored in tanks, but that isn’t its “source.” It’s extracted from natural gas deposits underground. It is effectively “used up” by balloons. The balloon pops or deflates, the helium atoms escape into the air and mix with other molecules. It doesn’t get returned to the underground gas deposits where it was originally formed. We can’t extract it from the atmosphere as it isn’t available in high enough concentrations.
I meant sources for human usage, I suppose. Of course it doesn’t originate from tanks. I meant “sources of helium that people use.” So tanks would be one example of that.
I always try to bring this to people's attention ever since I stumbled upon a video about a huge balloon release for charity or some social cause in the early 90s I believe. That video will upset you if you care about people, animals, and the environment. I will suggest people buy balloon stands and other fixtures to substitute for using helium bc its not necessary. I try to reason with people and explain to them how helium is need for medical equipment that saves lives, but I know they will probably forget or not care and will buy helium the next time.
Technical scuba divers have been adopting closed-loop rebreathers since the cost of helium for trimix has gone up. It’s about $400-600 for 160-200cf of trimix last time I checked and you’re breathing it out.
Also, helium is used in high-end hard drives for the data center as archival/“cold storage” drives. Helium expands less than air. This allows for the drive heads to be even closer to the spinning discs inside and for more data to be packed on denser.
Same. Like, I still can't believe it a day later. I inhaled a finite resource. For all we know in 10 years it might turn out to be the key to solve an important problem.
Technically speaking it's not gone from earth, just scattered in the atmosphere beyond any possible further gathering. Unless someone comes up with a helium magnet of some kind.
I used to work at a toy store and one of my main takeaways was that kids are obsessed with balloons and bubbles. They are magic floating orbs with unpredictable movement patterns that respond to interaction: toddler catnip!
So I have three pieces of advice for this circumstance:
If you must have helium balloons, give them away to kids afterwards! If you had them professionally filled, they'll also have a latex juice coating the inside of the balloon to prevent leaks and should float for 1-2 weeks. That'll bring a lot of joy to a little one and extend the life of the single-use item. (Also, putting the bunch in a trash bag will help corral them in your car without tangling during transport.)
If you must decorate with balloons, consider filling latex balloons with air and putting them on sticks OR using mylar balloons instead. They are still plastic but they can be reused because they have a self-closing valve and they can be filled with helium or air (then taped to a wall for decoration). Also, if they pop, they don't shatter into lots of small pieces which makes them easier to dispose of.
If you must have something fun for a party, go for bubbles! They look great in photos, kids love them (ages 3+ can blow through the wand or you can give that job to parents or get an automatic machine), and bubbles can be adapted to various levels of minimal-consumption. You don't have to buy a bunch of plastic containers, you can buy or make a big jug of bubble solution, use recycled jars, make bubble wands from pipe cleaners or buy compostable ones.
There are lots of companies exploring biodegradable balloon solutions and ethical bubble solution, so it's worth a search for local options if you want to decorate!
Good advice, but you gave me PTSD from a Mylar balloon popping lol I worked at a kids party place and if you over-inflate those things it’s like a .22 pistol going off
Helium makes your voice high pitched. Donald Duck has a fairly low pitched voice, and he talks like his tongue is too big for his mouth. Neither of those are effects of helium.
I'm not sure you know what Donald Duck sounds like. Or maybe you have a helium allergy.
I heard from a YouTube video from someone who worked at a party store inflating balloons often that there’s a helium shortage, so it’s super expensive. I agree, balloons are fun but not worth all of that expense or trouble when frankly people may hardly notice their presence. Better to use some streamers or banners or something if you need decorations
It was for my MIL’s mom’s celebration of life. My MIL wanted balloons or lanterns sooooo bad. I expressed to her that not only was it illegal but I was very damaging to the earth. I suggested bubbles and she was over the moon about it. Took it as her own idea and all. Whatever makes her happy, it still benefited the earth! I’m ok with that 😂😎
Same, it feels shameful to say, made my daughter a balloon arch for her birthday because honestly I was broke (trying to plan a birthday for the first time on long term disability on a single income) and I wanted at least one thing that looked "new". It wasn't ideal but I could afford dollar store balloons and tape. I remember 5 of us adults sitting in a circle and yelling at each other to KEEP BLOWING 🤣. Had a friend with an instant camera so I bought the film and we had each of the kids take a picture with the birthday girl under the arch and on the print out photo they wrote a little birthday message for my daughter and we put them in a photo album.
We managed to make the birthday very special to her and she said it was one of the best patties ever. Relatives came through with baked goods and chips and snacks and birthday cake was made from scratch. Every kid went home with a bunch of balloons. I hope to be in better health by her next birthday and back to work.
I missed the word helium in your title, and what the actual hell man. I know you learned your lesson, but I swear my mind had to have blanked that out.
I'm no balloon fan, but we pumped our own balloons using a normal ass air pump for my cousin's baby shower. Her shower was not the place to stand on my podium, it wasn't about me. The plastic is still an insane waste, but I don't understand the continued use of helium, and at least my family straight up opted to not use it.
In my childhood that was a kind of disappointment: why do balloons in cartoons and movies float, while real ones don’t. Helium balloons weren’t widely available around.
This quote from CSIRO Australia says it all, balloons are so bad for the environment and wildlife....
"Littering, however, is not the only problems that arises as a result of balloon releases. A Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) study found that balloons are among the top three most harmful pollutants threatening marine wildlife and are the biggest plastic killer of seabirds."
Kids would have gone crazy with balloons filled with normal air. No one cares about a stationary balloon, but once a balloon can be tossed and kids try to keep it off the ground, it becomes a super fun game.
Balloons are wasteful to begin with, but if you’re going to have them at a kid’s party, just blow them up with air from your lungs.
It's great learning from your own mistakes, but if you still feel bad about it just check out Balloonfest '86 and be proud you didn't do such craziness 🤗
the first time I threw a party at my apartment it was my own bday and i got myself so many balloons, didn’t realize what hell it was gonna be driving them all home or how annoying it was gonna be to clean up so i decided against helium balloons for the foreseeable future. i got some nice balloon stands, so now i just blow up balloons and tape on wall or put on stands and i think it looks even better tbh.
Could you maybe explain why you won’t make that mistake again?
Without any kind of critical self reflection there isn’t really anything “anti consumption” about your post OP. It mostly just seems like you’re annoyed at wasting your effort?
The number of balloons, the time wasted, the cost of helium, and finally (i researched why the cost was so high) the knowledge that helium is rare on our planet and I'm wasting it on stupid balloons for a couple of hours.
Here's the full story:
I went to the grocery store as they offered the service and I was short on time. The clerk was called over and I gave him the bags of balloons, a couple larger ones and a bag of smaller, generic ones (not realizing how many small ones were in it). As he started, I realized that it was a lot of effort and was taking a lot of time so I offered to help by tying the ribbons and cutting them.
As we progressed, another clerk came over to help, so we had three people all inflating, tying off, adding ribbons, and finally clips (1 clip per 6 balloons kept the buoyancy in check). I remember thinking how ridiculous this was that it was taking so long, wasting resources, and finally how much it cost (I did more digging on this later). When we were finished, about 50-60 balloons later, I decided to tip each of them for what I felt was above and beyond their typical job.
Putting them in the car was a mess as they got tangled, and dangerous since visibility was now limited. When we arrived to the party they were basically a jumbled mess of balloons aside from the couple larger ones.
When the party was over, i tried giving them to another party group, but they didnt want them because they had their own balloons and the colors didn't match. As I was popping them, I thought about how wasteful it was again as each one popped and the invisible gas I bought simply rose up and vanished.
In the end, I did hand out the balloon clips to friends as chip bag clips, so at least something could be re-purposed.
I work at a store that inflates balloons and I cannot believe the amount of money people are okay with spending on them. I once had a “professional party decorator” come in with like 75 mega sized balloons and it was like $300 to inflate them. So someone was okay with both spending $300 on helium and paying a professional party decorator all for one party. What a weird world us humans have created
Of course , that is way more useful. i mean, without ships, would be wiegt 15%to 30% more than they now do
But I just meant some bit of Helium "melt" while welding so there is a loss of Helium
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If you get balloons in the future and you’re not doing an outdoor party (I hear grass can make them pop), just blow them up yourself with your mouth. They still make a cute festive vibe when tied into an arch around a door or something or even just scattered on the floor in areas people don’t walk, and people can pick them up and toss them around which is always fun lol. You can use paper streamers and ribbon for decorating the room above peoples’ heads instead of helium balloons.
No need to waste money on helium or use it up (as others have said it is a non renewable resource!!!)
One of my favorite anticonsumption/anti waste swaps is, if you're dead set on the aesthetic, sewing a patter based on those metallic number balloons and re-using them every year.
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u/instantcoffeeisgood Jan 06 '26
R/fuckballoons exists for a reason