My Green Mardi Gras: What It’s Like To Ride And Not Throw Beads
Each year, people who live in New Orleans, and those who love visiting, plan their whole calendar around carnival season.
I’m one of them. For the past three years, I’ve had the honor of being a member of one of the krewes that puts on a big Mardi Gras parade.
We know years in advance when our parade will roll, and we’re able to plan accordingly, setting aside time to make the special objects we throw off our floats, and saving up for float dues and other expenses.
One major cost is buying throws — the plastic beads, plush toys, flags, umbrellas, footballs, and other things that we toss to the crowd.
Some of them are eagerly caught by the crowds below us. But as I’ve seen from high atop my float, too many are simply wasted.
Beads fall into the trees along St. Charles Avenue, where they hang for months, occasionally falling on cars or getting blown off in storms.
They drop onto lawns and the strip of median, known as neutral ground, that divides the avenues. And, far too many fall into the streets of New Orleans, and slip into the sewer system.
This past Mardi Gras, the city swept up 600 tons of Mardi Gras trash, actually a huge improvement over 2018, when 1,200 tons were swept up. The…
