Letters to the Editor: What happens to the balloons when the party is over?

A reader is pleading with people not to buy balloons as they are pointless rubbish

A Spiderman balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. A reader often finds the remains of balloons at a nearby cove. File picture: Laura Cavanaugh

I am a grumpy old pensioner, so there are many things I don’t understand about modern Ireland — like grown men wearing shorts in the winter; or drinking coffee from plastic cups in the street; or that no one smiles at strangers anymore, or stands aside on the pavement for the elderly.

And why do people spend time and money, and make a lot of noise that upsets their neighbours, just to produce sterile veneers of grass when they could have gardens of buttercups and daisies, insects, and birds?