SOUTHERN SHORES, N.C. — A mission that started in Southern Shores is now before state leaders in Raleigh after being introduced almost a year ago. That mission is a statewide ban on intentionally releasing mass amounts of balloons into the environment.
"We have educated masses of people, but sadly, there's still a lot of people out there that don't get it," said Debbie Swick, the founder of Ban Balloon Releases North Carolina.
Almost three years ago, Swick started a mission to ban balloon releases, which has been successful in Dare and Currituck counties on the Outer Banks.
"This is a balloon found on the beach, but full of color. This is what they wind up with out in the ocean and on the beaches. All of this color that is missing off of this is micro plastics, and it's in our water sources, our food sources, and in our environment as a whole," said Swick.
A bill banning mass balloon releases statewide was introduced in 2025, but so far no action has been taken on it in Raleigh. Now in 2026, that's expected to change.
"When we talk about the the bill itself, the word intentional is in there, and the $250 fine, which my hope is that it is going to stop people dead in their tracks before they even think about a release," said Swick.
Yes, that's a $250-per-balloon fine that would be introduced with the passing of this bill. Swick expects that once it is before elected leaders, it will be passed without opposition.
"The beautiful thing about this bill is that there is zero opposition on the Senate floor, we have the support of environmental groups, we have the support of balloon manufacturers and balloon distributors. They all get it," said Swick.
Though Swick feels the passing of this bill will be a huge step in the right direction, she isn't going to stop there.
"Once this passes, move on to step two, which is going to be putting together the education packets, talking to the children in school, talking to churches. We're not trying to take away any of their rights, but we want them to find something that isn't going to impact our environment for our generation and generations to come," said Swick.
Swick tells News 3 she is hopeful that it will be before elected leaders and passed by sometime this spring.
