A lot of Mardi Gras beads end up in the gutter, and from there, in the storm drains. In early 2018, New Orleans' Department of Public Works said crews had pulled 93,000 pounds of beads out of clogged catch basins, most of them along a stretch of St. Charles Avenue. Plenty of the rest end up in closets and landfills. Some, thanks to local recycling programs, make it back onto a float.
We love Carnival. We sell king cake pins and Mardi Gras shirts for a living. And we also live in a city that's below sea level and depends on its drains working, so it's worth knowing where all that plastic goes after the last float passes.
The Storm Drain Problem
New Orleans' drainage depends on rain getting into catch basins and out to the pumps. When those basins clog, streets flood faster.
After a damaging August 2017 flood, the city launched an emergency push to clean its catch basins. Stormwater magazine reported in January 2018 that crews had cleared about 15,000 of the city's 68,000 catch basins with a $7 million emergency fund. Vacuum trucks removed 7.2 million pounds of debris between late September and late January. Inside, they found 93,000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads, mostly in drains on St. Charles between Poydras Street and Lee Circle.
The interim Public Works director at the time, Dani Galloway, put it well: "Once you hear a number like that, there's no going back."
That's roughly 46 tons of plastic sitting in the drains of one stretch of one street. It's the kind of number that makes you look at the bead pile in your hall closet a little differently.
Since then, the city has worked on covering catch basins along parade routes during Carnival. FOX 8 covered the "gutter buddies" the city began using to keep beads out. You can help too: don't kick beads into the gutter, and pick up the ones near your spot when you leave.
How Much Trash Carnival Makes
Beads are only part of it. AFAR reported in 2020 that Mardi Gras produces about 1.2 million pounds of garbage in less than two weeks, much of it single-use plastic: cups, hats, doubloons, toys and beads.
Some of that is inevitable when that many people throw a party in the street. A lot of it isn't. (For the happier side of the bead story, read Throw Me Something, Mister.)
Where You Can Recycle Throws
RecycleDat!
The city's RecycleDat! program, led by Grounds Krewe in partnership with the city, sets up staffed recycling stations along Napoleon and St. Charles during big parade weekends. The 2026 season was its fourth year. The hubs take aluminum cans, plastic bottles, empty glass bottles and unwanted throws, which benefit local nonprofits.
According to the city's January 2026 release, the program recycled more than 70,000 pounds of parade waste the season before, including 23,445 pounds of beads and throws.
Grounds Krewe
AFAR reports that Brett Davis founded Grounds Krewe in 2017. Its volunteers set out recycling sacks along Uptown routes and march at the tail end of parades collecting them. It's an easy way to volunteer during Carnival if you want to do more than catch.
The Arc of Greater New Orleans
The Arc supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and its Mardi Gras recycling work employs many of them. According to AFAR, the Arc collects throws in purple and green bins around town, sorts and repackages them, and resells them to krewes. AFAR put the 2019 haul at about 170 tons of throws returned to parades.
One rule from the Arc worth repeating: no food or liquid in the bins. A single sticky cup can ruin a whole load.
What Krewes Are Doing
The city has started banning some of the worst offenders. NOLA Ready's route rules say krewe members can't throw boxes, non-biodegradable paper streamers or empty single-use plastic bags.
Plenty of krewes and riders are also moving toward throws people actually keep. Hand-decorated coconuts and shoes get saved for decades. Food throws get eaten. In AFAR's 2020 report, the Arc and Grounds Krewe partnered to sell more than 7,000 sustainable throws, like food packets and handmade items.
If you ride, think about what you're tossing. A throw someone keeps is worth twenty strands that end up in the drain.
What You Can Do (Without Ruining the Fun)
Nobody's asking you to skip the parade or turn down a strand from a kid's favorite float. A few small things help:
- Catch what you want. Let the rest go to someone who wants it.
- Bring a reusable cup. Our silicone Fairgrounds Go-Cup rolls with you all season, and we explain the history in Consider the Go-Cup.
- Don't leave beads in the street or kick them toward the gutter.
- Drop unwanted throws at a recycling station or an Arc bin instead of the trash.
- Pick up your area before you leave.
And yes, some people put beads in potholes. We've written about filling potholes with beads, crawfish and dreams. That's a joke, mostly.
The Bigger Picture
Drains are one piece of how this city lives with water. The other piece is the coast. Louisiana's wetlands are the buffer between New Orleans and the Gulf, and they've been disappearing for decades. We wrote about it in Make Wetlands Not War.
It's also a design we sell, as a bumper sticker and as a screen-printed Make Wetlands print. And a portion of proceeds from The World Needs More Louisiana goes to Restore the Mississippi River Delta.
Carnival will always be messy. It's supposed to be. It can be a little less messy for the drains.
Mardi Gras Beads and the Environment: FAQ
How many Mardi Gras beads were found in New Orleans storm drains?
In early 2018, the city's Department of Public Works reported that crews pulled 93,000 pounds of beads from clogged catch basins, mostly along St. Charles Avenue between Poydras Street and Lee Circle.
Where can I recycle Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans?
During Carnival, the RecycleDat! stations along the Uptown parade route take unwanted throws. The Arc of Greater New Orleans has also collected throws in bins around town to sort and resell to krewes.
Are Mardi Gras beads bad for the environment?
Plastic beads that end up in the street can clog storm drains and add to landfill waste. Recycling throws and catching only what you'll keep both help.
Leave a comment
All comments are moderated before being published.
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.