A nationwide campaign to ban the use of sky lanterns across the UK continues, with numerous organisations, including the National Farmers Union and the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals warning of the dangers of their use.
A new petition, launched last month, is calling on the government to implement a national ban, and now has over 26,000 signatures.
Sky lanterns consist of a paper-covered wire or bamboo frame and an open flame heat source, which lifts the lantern into the air, where it can float for miles from where it was released.
Once extinguished, the lantern falls back to the ground. As well as being a significant fire risk, it can be hazardous to wildlife, farm animals and horses.
Every year, up to 200,000 sky lanterns are released in the UK. They aren’t currently banned in England or Scotland, but they have been banned in Wales from use on all council land, since February 2018.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Animals has long campaigned for England to implement the same ban on all council land, and they’ve had some success. Locally, Lancaster City Council and Wyre Borough Council are among 174 councils out of 333 have voluntarily banned sky lanterns, but this only covers the land they own.
The government’s environmental department, DEFRA, has advised against using the lanterns, although they have stopped short of making them illegal. Their use is already completely banned in Germany, Austria and Brazil.
Now, the RSPCA has escalated its sky litter campaign and joined forces with the National Farmers Union, National Fire Chiefs Council and 16 other like-minded organisations, calling for a complete ban under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
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The organisations argue paper lanterns aren’t safe for animals or the environment. They can cause injury, suffering and death to animals if they eat them, become tangled up in them, or become trapped by them.
When they’re eaten, sharp parts like the wire frame can tear and puncture an animal’s throat or stomach causing internal bleeding. Animals can also become entangled in fallen lantern frames, where they can suffer from injury and stress trying to get free or starve to death from being trapped. Marine life is also endangered by lanterns falling into the sea.
Sky lanterns can also cause fires, as they use an open flame to float. This could destroy habitats and set animal housing, feed and bedding alight.
In the UK, fire services have issued warnings to people over the fire risk following incidents such as the Smethwick recycling plant fire in 2013.
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More recently, the risk posed by sky lanterns was highlighted in January 2020, when they were suspected to have caused a fire at a zoo in Germany that killed dozens of monkeys, bats and birds.
The fire risk is higher during the dry summer months, as it’s easier for grass and countryside to catch fire.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that ‘biodegradable’ paper lanterns are safe, either. Materials like bamboo are used instead of wire, but it can still take decades to degrade, and there’s still a fire risk.
The RSPCA are urging people to use alternatives to these types of paper lanterns, such as jam jar lights, or blowing bubbles, and avoid the danger to our countryside and animals.