The next time you pick up balloons for someone's birthday, make sure you don't drive through Laguna Beach with them.
- The California city this week outlawed the sale and use of balloons on public property and at city events. Anyone caught with one will face a fine of up to $500, according to the Laguna Beach City Council. However, it is OK to have a balloon inside a residential home, the council reports.
- While balloons might seem harmless, they're anything but, says Anja Brandon, associate director of Ocean Conservancy. When eaten by birds, marine mammals or sea turtles, latex balloons are 32 times more likely to be fatal than hard plastic, Brandon says. What's more is the strings that are attached to balloons can be even more deadly because they get wrapped around necks and other body parts, says Adam Ratner, associate director of the Marine Mammal Center.