As a family the beach is one of our favourite places to bubble.
There are several reasons. I was brought up by the sea in Italy, in Liguria. We live 10mins drive away from the sea here in North Wales. Years of sailing. It’s our happy place.
This living in close proximity to beaches, the work I have done in Marine Conservation, and just the way I’ve wanted to bring up my kids, makes us incredibly aware of beach litter. Each beach walk involves some form of a beach clean, whether it’s just picking up the odd bit of litter we see on our walks, or a more concerted effort where we drag old fishing nets, bins, tyres, bottles, plastic boxes etc along behind us.
Invariably, especially nowadays, even on the superficially cleanest of beaches we will find endless amounts of plastic. Cotton bud sticks, bottle tops, and the most insidious bits of popped balloons. Balloons, and their ribbons, are everywhere, snarled in amongst the strandline, the plastic, where it is either white or bleached by the sun, so easily camouflaged as a natural algae, or in the water, a jellyfish. The amount of this litter is increasing significantly on an annual basis. It really is quite shocking.
The Marine Conservation Society have now called for a ban on all balloon releases, and indeed, across much of Australia, California, Florida (beach states!) this is now in force.
Don’t get me wrong, zillions of balloons, all floating up to the sky together are indeed a sight to behold – and who as a little kid wasn’t thrilled to be handed that very beautiful balloon to tag along!
But trust me – bubbles – especially Giant Bubbles – are seriously even better. So, why not use bubbles instead?!
Bubbles wont’ hang about in the environment or leave any plastics behind. Yet, for those precious moments are some of the most beautiful things you will ever see. Dancing and floating in the wind. Driven by air currents, influenced by humidity. Bubbles are naturally occurring in nature. Watching them float and split and morph into different shapes, is watching something totally organic.
Soap Bubbles, by their very nature, are made using the smallest volumes of soap (our bubbles are 95% water). This is what allows the water to stretch and the bubble to hold it’s shape. But here at Dr Zigs we work really hard in reducing even that. So you can rest assured that our bubbles contain less ‘soap’ than a bottle of Ecover (the leading eco cleaning brand here in the UK), and what’s more, the soap we use is fully biodegradable in sunlight.
The many years spent at and by the sea, and on a beach is what has influenced the ethical and environmental effort that we put into our bubble toys. At all levels. Our wooden wands are sustainably sourced, we have nearly totally eliminated single-use plastic from all of our work – both our toys, and our workplace. Where we use plastics, we strive to check that they are both manufactured using recycled plastics where ever possible and are fully recyclable. Our bubbles are guaranteed phosphate free, and are even Vegan!
Several years ago, as a result of this growing issue, we were thrilled to be endorsed by the American organisation Balloons Blow, and since then more and more people have been using our kits instead of balloon releases.. You can find their brilliant article, on alternatives to balloon releases here: https://balloonsblow.org/environmentally-friendly-alternatives/
So, to summarise – next time you go to the beach, remember to take a bin bag with you and pick up what rubbish you find. Take a close look at that strandline. Pick up those balloons - you’ll be shocked at what plastics you’ll find lurking – BUT you’ll also go home knowing that you too were able to make a difference.
And why not take a bubble kit to the beach with you too. Catch a sunset, and just watch those bubbles fly.
Love,
Paola
