((TRT: 11:13))
((Topic Banner: A Greener Mardi Gras))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: New Orleans, Louisiana))
((Main character: 10 female; 5 male))

((NATS/MUSIC))
((Brett Davis
Founding Director, Grounds Krewe))
So, we're out here today conducting a parade recycling program, which is probably the hardest environment in the world to try to recycle. It's a three-mile long party that goes through the public streets. It's not an enclosed environment like a festival you would think of, and so the atmosphere out here is probably the most difficult to actually capture things and divert them from the landfill.
((NATS: Hannah and woman))
((Hannah Pittman
Director of Operations, Grounds Krewe))
- Hey, can we have your cans when you're done?
- I’m supposed to throw these…
- Yeah, that'd be great.
((Brett Davis
Founding Director, Grounds Krewe))
Carnival season, Mardi Gras is the largest free and unsponsored event in the entire world. And so, this is this huge, huge festival that is put on totally open to the public to attend. And the way that it's paid for is through the members that ride in these parades in these krewe organizations [an organization staging festivities during Mardi Gras]. They pay to be a member of the parade, and they also fund the parade by buying packages of throws. The most common throw, of course, is the Mardi Gras bead. And a parade can have as many as 3,700 members just in one parade. And we're talking about 70 parades or more through the season. And so, there's just a deluge of disposable plastic items.
((NATS))
((Brett Davis
Founding Director, Grounds Krewe))
We're trying to get some folks to recycle their cans and unwanted beads. That is depressing right there. So, we just had someone turn in a bunch of broken and dirty beads that can't be used, so those are all going to go to the landfill, unfortunately. Every Carnival, we import millions of pounds of these beads, and we have as much as 2.6 million pounds of street waste just left out. It all goes to the landfill in 11 days of Carnival. So, even though we're only picking up 2.6 million pounds of beads and trash left on the street, there's actually a lot more that comes in that goes through the circulation of Mardi Gras, and then will eventually end up being disposed of at home, and then into the landfill.
((Hannah Pittman
Director of Operations, Grounds Krewe))
These beads are going to be donated to Arc of Greater New Orleans, and they are going to be sorted and recycled by adults with developmental disabilities, and then resold to the parades next year. In five blocks, they found 96,000 pounds of beads in the septic system of New Orleans a couple of years ago, and what we're doing is trying to prevent that from happening.
((Dr. Catherine Russell
Fulbright Scholar, University of New Orleans))
They're bad in a couple of contexts. One of them is the chemical context. Each color contains a different chemical makeup, but many of the colors contain more lead than is the legal maximum limit for children's toys. The other thing as well is that they go into storm drains, so the physical presence of them in storm drains acts very much like a sediment. And when we think about them as a sediment, a lot of the science that we know from sedimentology, which is my subdivision of geology, can be applied. And these are quite heavy. I don't know if you've ever carried a bag of Mardi Gras beads, but they are quite heavy. So, once they get into the storm drains, in a lot of cases, the only way that they can be removed is by actually being physically taken out.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Brett Davis
Founding Director, Grounds Krewe))
You've heard the phrase ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’. So, our vision is to try to allow and build and create a local sustainable throw economy. And that means coming up with ideas for throws that are things that are functional, biodegradable, consumable, with an emphasis on Louisiana products. So, we want to find things that people can use.
((Mardi Gras Goer #1))
We got some biodegradable glitter, which was a lot of fun. We got some wooden toothbrushes, which is always good, just in case, you know, if you have an out-of-town guest. We got some red beans, maybe some jambalaya mix.
((Mardi Gras Goer #2))
These are some wildflower seeds. I've got coffee. I've got jambalaya, and I've got red beans. These are all... oh, wait, and some soap that's locally made in New Orleans, all sustainable.
((Brett Davis
Founding Director, Grounds Krewe))
We had our first Krewe branded package in 2022 last year with the Krewe of Iris, and it was over 100,000 eco-friendly throws. And the response that we got from the community was just amazing. The community, the riders, everyone was just over the moon with the packages that we created. And we had, you know, beautiful images of people out on the parade route holding up signs saying, ‘Throw me your sustainables.’
((Sarah Petitto
Officer, Krewe of Iris))
We've taken that responsibility very seriously, which is why we did start working with Grounds Krewe with Brett last year or two years ago.
((NATS))
((Kristin Danflue
Captain, Krewe of Iris))
I think it's happening, because the first year we dealt with Brett, we sold 500 packages and, you know, we ordered a thousand. But after people saw it, when we went back the next year, we ordered more, and we ended up selling a thousand plus the 500 that we didn't sell the year before. So, I think people just need to get used to it. It's a little bit of a different Mardi Gras. It's a little bit of a different throw, you know, and I think that people are catching on
((Courtesy: Krewe of Iris))
because all of the other throws of the other Krewes are starting to do it too now.
((NATS))
((Greg Nichols
Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, The City of New Orleans))
Last year, the city created, during Mardi Gras, almost 1,200 tons of waste. And that can mean beads that get in our stormwater system, obviously waste that goes to our landfill, which can produce greenhouse gas emissions. Brett has been, you know, really helping us lead the way, I think, in building off what he's done and giving us a model for what the city can do going forward.
((Virginia Saussy
Creative Team, Float and Throw Design, Krewe of Muses))
So, since 2004, we've looked for what we call “remusable” items.
((Kellie Talbot
Creative Team, Float and Throw Design, Krewe of Muses))
Yeah, “remusable”.
((Virginia Saussy
Creative Team, Float and Throw Design, Krewe of Muses))
We've thrown pedicure kits, Band-Aids, sleep masks, Band-Aids. Our captain comes up with a lot of really brilliant ideas, and she's always loved Thomas Mann's jewelry.
((Kellie Talbot
Creative Team, Float and Throw Design, Krewe of Muses))
Tom being a local artist and very, very well-known and very, very collectible, she started meeting with him and having that... So, this is the first year, which was this last year.
((Virginia Saussy
Creative Team, Float and Throw Design, Krewe of Muses))
Because they're valued. We know that a Thomas Mann necklace won't end up in a storm drain or getting scooped up after the parade.
((Thomas Mann
Artist))
I believe that this whole thing is important because we're actually going back and in an interesting way to the Mardi Gras throws roots. And back in the day, the throws were much more precious, because they were made…they were glass beads that were made in Japan and Czechoslovakia [presently Czech Republic and Slovakia]. So for the early years of Mardi Gras, the beads that were quote-unquote “thrown”, could be worn year-round as an actual fashion accessory where you're going to be much more reluctant to wear plastic beads, you know, out in the middle of the summer.
((Boyfriend
Musician))
To me, the fun of riding is that you're playing catch with the city and you pick someone and you're energetically aligned and you make eye contact, you have a little nod, and then you go for it. And that takes more time than just blindly throwing them out there. So, I think if people can engage with the community aspect of it, where you're saying, "Hi, I see you. Do you see me? Great." Even that right there, like taking eight or seven seconds longer, paces it out a little bit better.
((Boyfriend,
Musician))
If you love Mardi Gras and you want the next generation to enjoy Mardi Gras the way we are now, we have to change this current climate of throwing trash into the street. We need to throw things like this that are treasured and are sustainable, handmade throws. Otherwise, I'm not sure what Mardi Gras is going to look like in 150 years.
((NATS))
((Judge Kimya M. Holmes
Captain, Krewe of Themis))
Sustainability is really important, and our krewe is a part of our mission. One of the things we asked the members after our first ride was, "What would they change? What improvements they wanted to see made?" And sustainability was right at the top of the list. So, what we ended up doing is offering two sets of packages: one purely sustainable throws through Grounds Krewe; and then one with our customary bead distributive, opting only for recycled larger beads; and then everything else in our packages are all things that can be reusable and are sustainable.
((Courtesy: Grounds Krewe))
We also have paper beads that actually some ladies in Uganda actually made. So they came from Africa and they are absolutely amazing .
((Mardi Gras Goer #1))
Catching things that are handmade, catching things that are sustainable. I think those are just as exciting, if not even more exciting for our kids.
((Mardi Gras Goer #3))
I think they're great as long as they're being recycled, but I think it's better if we have sustainable beads, like glass beads, like these ones right here.
((Mardi Gras Goer #4))
I prefer a sustainable glitter over microplastics any day of the year, especially in Mardi Gras. Yeah! Because we're not polluting. We are enjoying and making ourselves pretty without any issues in the environment.
((NATS))
((Hannah Pittman
Director of Operations, Grounds Krewe))
Hey, can we have your cans when you're done?
They, they love it. They absolutely love it. Everyone that comes to pick up says the same thing. They're like, wow, I am so glad that this exists, you know? I'm so glad that somebody is doing something about this. I'm so glad that somebody is helping us to make a change.
((Thomas Mann
Artist))
The idea that we're moving towards a more precious, more collectible, more sustainable kind of Mardi Gras gift, because that's what it is. It's a gift to the audience from the krewes that makes their Mardi Gras experience exciting.
((Judge Kimya M. Holmes
Captain, Krewe of Themis))
I think with change it’s always difficult, and I think as more people see the items and see how nice they are, I think more krewes will be shifting towards sustainable packages.
((NATS))