Is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Harmful for the Environment?
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is just around the corner and hundreds of thousands of people will be traveling to New York City for the annual event. An estimated 22 million people tuned into the event on NBC in 2015, according to Forbes.com. With all of these people coming to the event, it is evident that there will be more vehicle emissions and trash in the streets. Macy's implemented measures to be taken to turn such a large event into one that does not extensively harm the environment.
One of the biggest concerns that comes with the large balloons used every year is all of the helium it uses. Unfortunately, the Earth’s supply of helium is actually running out; if we continue to consume the gas at this rate, we’ll run out in about 40 years.The biggest problem, however, is that there's no substitute for helium. This week, Macy's annual order—an estimated 400,000 cubic feet of helium—will be trucked from a plant in Kansas to New Jersey, where it will be converted to a gas and driven to New York City. Although this may seem like a large number, it is actually small in comparison to the overall purchases of helium each year. An estimated 6.4 billion cubic feet of helium gas is used every year, according to National Geographic. Groundswell Stories states that in 2007, Macy's started to recycle their helium. "Workers poke long ends into the small and medium balloons and suck the gas into tubes; it’s only mildly effective, but I’m glad the company is trying and optimistic its technology will improve with time."
In 2014, Macy's cut their electricity usage in their stores by 38%. This was done by installing LED lights in their stores and installing solar power arrays on the roofs of stores and distribution centers in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and other states. Essentially, Macy’s sustainability accomplishments more than make up for the potential harms of the parade itself.
These changes also came to the local Macy stores in the Chicago area, includong Joliet, Bolingbrook, and
