In a unanimous vote, the Lafayette City Council is condemning any future balloon releases for memorials or celebrations.
In the resolution, LCG is urging people to use eco-friendly alternatives instead of choosing to release balloons at public or private events.
"They're great to look at but they have to come down somewhere and that's what causes the problem."
The resolution was placed on the agenda by City Councilwoman Nanette Cook.
Some alternatives suggested are releasing flowers on the water, blowing bubbles, candlelight vigils, and planting trees.
"What this does is just make people aware of the issue at this point and hopefully people will understand or think twice or think about a different alternative when they want to do some type of memorial service,” Cook added.
According to LUS in the past year, 8,032 customers lost power during eight outages caused by balloons.
The most recent outage happened on August 27th, when a balloon knocked out power to 858 customers between Kaliste Saloom road and Verot School Road.
Other council members pointed out the environmental effects
"The effect that it has on the ecosystem, the number of wildlife that it harms, the pollution it causes it lands everywhere. Oceans, rivers, you name it. It affects our ecosystem highly so I definitely will be supporting this resolution,” said Lafayette City Councilman, Andy Naquin.
The adopted resolution is only symbolic and it will not be law.
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