After celebrations and parades, one lingering issue of Mardi Gras hangs around, waste and specifically for Mardi Gras are tons and tons of beads.
After all the Madri Gras festivities last year, 1,150 tons of waste was sent to the landfill, according to the City of New Orleans. And in 2018, 46 tons of beads were pulled from the catch basins near the main route of the parade.
“We always measure the success of Mardi Gras by the amount of garbage that’s picked up,” said Robert Thomas, PH.D., Loyola’s environmental communication director.
A recycling initiative called Recycle Dat are picking up beads and work with local organizations to and recycling centers to processed and sold back to krewes for Mardi Gras.