Krewe of Freret to ban plastic beads for 2025

quote:

---

Throw me somethin’ mister, has long been a Carnival-time mantra in New Orleans, as parade-goers vie for glinting plastic necklaces tossed from passing floats. But in recent years there’s also been increasing discontent with the enormous amount of plastic thrown from Mardi Gras parades and its ecological effect.

On Tuesday morning, the 13-year-old Krewe of Freret unveiled a strategy to reduce the bead deluge.

Starting in 2025, riders in the Freret parade will no longer be permitted to throw plastic beads. Krewe leaders estimate the change will eliminate more than 200,000 strands of beads from New Orleans' trees, storm drains and, ultimately, landfills each year, or 2 million strands over the next decade.

In addition to the beads, the plan will eliminate thousands of single-use plastic bags that wrap the beads from what the krewe calls “the vulnerable New Orleans ecosystem.”

---