Although Mardi Gras is all about excess, the piles of abandoned beads, cups and recyclable trash left in a parade's wake are nothing to celebrate. In fact, a staggering statistic emerged a few weeks ago — city workers found 93,000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads clogging New Orleans catch basins.
In an effort to increase the amount of recycling during Mardi Gras — and reduce the amount of trash going in to landfills — ARC of Greater New Orleans and Young Leadership Council (YLC) Recycles have partnered with the Krewes of Freret and Toth, as well as the city sanitation department to collect unwanted beads, Mardi Gras cups and recyclable trash.
Volunteers will be collecting recyclables along the St. Charles parade route on Sunday, Feb. 11 after the Krewe of Toth parade. WWNO's Jessica Rosgaard talked with Stephen Sauer of ARC, and Hannah Kincannon of YLC Recycles about the details of the program.
