The sororities at my university do a wonderful job at raising not only money but awareness for their philanthropies. I'm always amazed at the amount of money they are able to raise, especially since my campus isn't very large.

They deserve recognition for all of their hard work but maybe releasing 30-50 balloons at every football game just isn't the way to do it, and I know my campus isn't the only one that does this.

"Nobody really pays attention to balloon releases" - Jaylon

"Ultimately, it's really just not a good practice that is rarely worth it, and has actual negative consequences to it"- Wesley.

"The balloon releases are anticlimactic and are terrible for the environment" - Patricia

These are real-life comments from real-life students who understand how the environment is being impacted.

Even in high school, we released balloons at a football game when we raised money for breast cancer research. While it may be pretty watching all of those balloons float into the sky the bottom line is that it's horrible for the environment.

"If the intent is to bring awareness to an issue, then a balloon release at a college football game isn't the most efficient way."

After doing some research, I found that no balloon is 100% biodegradable, it takes anywhere from six months to four years for latex balloons to decompose and they can cause a lot of damage to our Earth in that time period.

Releasing balloons causes harm to wildlife, is unnecessary litter, and it is a waste of helium.

In some locations, balloon releasing is illegal because of the environmental damage it causes, the strings end up in bird nests and can strangle baby birds.

Now, let's talk about alternatives.

It takes 5 seconds to Google "balloon release alternatives," in a short time I found several other options to use instead of balloons and they all are better for the environment.

My personal favorite was a butterfly release, but even this one can have negative side effects.

A good majority of websites suggests releasing giant bubbles or kites instead of balloons. For an even more environmentally friendly alternative, you can create wildflower bombs and release the seeds into an empty field, or just plant flowers and trees in remembrance.

If you live near a river or stream you can release floating flowers and it will be so much greener for the environment.

Greek life is a huge part of the community on campus, and I am asking them to step up and be responsible.

Take responsibility for the trash you leave behind as well as the mark you leave on your community.

Let's move forward to find environmentally friendly alternatives, rather than continuing this harmful cycle.

At my university, Zeta Tau Alpha has already made the choice to stop balloon releasing and instead shows off their philanthropy in a more profound way by bringing out Breast Cancer survivors on the field with them, so why can't other sororities and philanthropic organizations do the same?