Mardi Gras has a reputation for making a lot of trash. Waste can add up to millions of pounds each year. But some Krewes are finding new ways to cut down on their environmental footprint.
At the Krewe of Freret’s parade on Feb. 22, thousands of people lined up along Napoleon Avenue. Longtime New Orleans resident Bonnie Hill stood among a group of friends.
As a float passed by, she waved her hands as riders tossed dozens of throws in the air. There were frisbees, a toy sword, stuffed animals and more. What she caught surprised her.
“Glass beads!” she said, smiling.
Notably, not plastic beads. Freret banned plastic beads for the first time this year. It’s one of a growing number of krewes that have moved away from them. Hill said she’s a fan of cutting down on all that waste, which can top 2.5 million pounds in a typical Carnival season.
“I love that so many of the krewes are doing that,” she said. “It's so important, and they're throwing less.”
There are ways to recycle the cheap, plastic beads that have become synonymous with Mardi Gras, but many end up in landfills. They also clog up the city’s 100-year-old drainage system. That’s led to more calls to ditch them altogether.
“Honestly it was a very easy decision,” said Bobby Hjortsberg, captain of Freret. He said he came to the realization on Mardi Gras day last year.
“My one year old daughter was wearing a strand of beads, and I saw them start to bleed onto her neck. They started to fade onto her clothing,” he said.
Meaning, the paint color from the beads was staining her skin and clothes.
“And I remember thinking to myself, like, ‘What are we doing? This is not a good thing,’” he said.
He said this year the krewe will prevent 250,000 strands of beads from going to waste, replacing it with more useful throws like jambalaya ingredients and even bars of soap.
“We don’t want people leaving stuff on the street, there’s enough stuff to clean up,” he said.
While the change has a lot of support, the move away from plastic does take more creativity – and a little extra money.
One strand of Mardi Gras beads can cost less than 25 cents. Meanwhile, throws like lab-created biodegradable beads and the flowers that the Krewe of Iris use now cost over twice as much.
“Flowers end up in the landfill too, but they are biodegradable,” said Kim Starr Wise, krewe’s florist and owner of The Flower Shop on Magazine Street. She said the extra cost is a tradeoff.
“But wouldn’t you rather spend a dollar on something you know that isn’t going to sit in a landfill vs. a dollar on something that is?” she said.
Calls to make Mardi Gras less wasteful have even made it all the way to city hall. Last year, the city council banned single use plastic beads for all parades unless they are marked with krewe logos, said Anna Nguyen, a spokeswoman with the city’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability.
“I think shifting away from using these beads and thinking more sustainability and consciously about what we do give out at Mardi Gras is certainly a culture shift,” she said.
On top of rules around beads, the city is also adding eight new recycling hubs along parade routes as part of the Recycle Dat program. Nguyen said they hope to divert over 10 tons of waste from landfills this year.
Back at the Krewe of Freret Parade, Tommy Hebert is catching throws with his daughter, Lucy and wife, Civia. Their haul includes a teddy bear, Mardi Gras flag and some snacks.
He said he hopes to see more Krewes follow in the footsteps of Freret, and throw more practical things.
“The Moonpies are always delicious. You can use those on the route,” he said.
“I like catching them because I can eat them on the spot,” said Civia.
“I got a cookie with marshmallows!” Lucy said.
“There’s only one kind, Moonpie!” Tommy said.
The family also caught a bag of red beans and sugar cubes throughout the night, which they say they definitely won’t put to waste.
