Keeping your customers informed and giving them information on how they can enjoy their balloons responsibly is essential for all in the balloon industry, especially customers and balloon professionals. Sharing this information can be done in several ways:
Care Cards
A care card highlights the importance of enjoying balloons responsibly to best protect the environment. These are perfect add-on to give to your clients with their balloon purchase. Cards such as these highlight the following messages:
DON'T LET GO
Please don't release helium-filled balloons outdoors - helium balloons should always be secured to a weight. Always dispose of balloons responsibly.
Balloons are a much-loved product that brings joy and helps us celebrate the special moments in life.
As a responsible balloon business, we want to protect our environment from any unnecessary litter. We have therefore made the decision not to support the release of any balloons into the environment. We encourage our customers to support this position and not undertake or endorse balloon releases of any kind.
INFLATE SAFELY
To remove the risk of injury, always use a balloon pump and NEVER inhale helium.
SUPERVISE CHILDREN UNDER 8
Uninflated or burst balloons can present a choking hazard - please supervise small children at all times.
BE LATEX ALLERGY AWARE
Balloons made of natural rubber latex may cause a reaction in those with latex allergies. Look out for symptoms and seek help if required.
ALWAYS DISPOSE OF BALLOONS RESPONSIBLY
Remember when you've finished with a balloon, simply snip the end of the balloons with scissors before placing in a suitable bin.
Pioneer Europe, in conjunction with the European Balloon and Party Council (EBPC), has developed a collection of environmental marketing materials that we can use freely within our businesses to educate consumers to enjoy balloons responsibly, promoting the message: "Don't let go."
There are five downloadable flyers that you can use:
Posters - these can be displayed in your shops and stores.
Leaflets - Gives even more information than the Care Card
Carecards - see above
Weight Labels - Weight Stickers will stick on the underside of many commonly used balloon weights.
These are available in 24 different languages. Click on the appropriate language and it will take you directly to the link.
Social Media Posts
Having a variety of posts is important for any business, and sharing environmental posts especially will be a very positive thing to do. It will act as a regular reminder to your customers and followers that you take environmental issues seriously!
Once again, there are some great pre-made posts that are available from www.qualatex.com, which can be found in the SUSTAINABILITY section on the website.
Here are a few examples of the types of posts that are available.
Have you ever seen a social media post from EU Partysafe? I would expect not, as unless you know about them, you probably won't be following them... start following them today! EU Partysafe is a consumer-facing page run by the European Balloon & Party Council, a Non-Governmental Organisation that represents all the key players in the balloon & party industry. Their aim is to raise awareness & educate consumers on balloon and party-related products.
Here are a few examples of posts that EUPartysafe shares, and you could do something similar or even better! Sharing their posts on your business page clearly reinforces the message and will potentially guide your customers to their website, which gives even more consumer information on balloons and the environment as well as other information relating to party products.
EU Party Safe posts are succinct, and always feature important facts paired with an eye-catching photo. Free photo stock can be found on the Qualatex website in the Marketing Material in the Inspiration tab. CANVA has some great photo stock, some of which is free. Using an eye-catching, and appropriate photo will help to attract attention to your posts and hopefully their important messages too!
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Did you know  Latex balloons are plant-based   In fact, they are made from the sap of rubber trees, NOT from plastic as is sometimes reported |
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Always re-use before you recycle  Remember: foil balloons are not biodegradable; flatten and store your foil balloons when possible; re-use your foil balloons. You may be surprised how good they will look! |
The Balloon Council - http://www.theballooncouncil.org
Pro Environment Balloon Alliance (PEBA) - https://www.peba.com.au
A huge thank you to EBPC for allowing me to share material from their Facebook page.
Happy and responsible Ballooning!
Sue
Follow me @suebowler