recycling mardi gras [link friday, 2.8]

Because Mardi Gras is so big in South Louisiana, and it's so easy to collect pounds of beads, I'll reinforce this week's feature post in today's link post.

If you plan to get rid of your Mardi Gras beads this year, stop and donate them instead! The beads will be fixed up and reused in future years, cutting down on a ton of plastic and petroleum. And we definitely don't need to be using all of our resources on beads that get carelessly thrown away after one season.

Margie Perez with ARC says an estimated 25,000,000 pounds of beads come into the metro area every Carnival season, but less than 3 percent is recycled.
-The Times Picayune

  • Lafayette: Arc of Acadiana's Bead Drive information. From now through March 20, you can drop off beads to any member of the Louisiana Auto Dealers Association. The locations are listed on their website.
  • Lafayette: Goodwill. They partner with LARC to accept donated beads on the organization's behalf.
  • Lafayette: LARC. Their donations are accepted at any Goodwill or at the LARC office on New Hope Road (near Acadian Village).
  • New Orleans: Arc of Greater New Orleans accepts beads at various locations.
  • New Orleans: Last year, the New Orleans public library branches accepted beads for recycling. Some branches this year are accepting beads; check the ArcGNO website for information on which branches.
  • Baton Rouge: If you know of an organization that accepts beads for recycling in Baton Rouge, please share! Their information is absent online.
  • Some other general Mardi Gras recycling tips from About.com.
  • Shannon Hurst Lane has some Mardi Gras recycling tips as well.
  • Verdi Gras is a new New Orleans organization focused on making Mardi Gras greener. They have a recycling program this year that involves taking beads, plastic and cans off the parade route and sorting it for recycling or donating to ARC. Anyone can volunteer to help with the program by emailing Verdi Gras!
  • And an LA Times article about Kirk and Holly Groh, the couple behind the creation of Verdi Gras!
If you're going out to a parade, have fun and stay safe! And be green! I'll be out on my bike, with a margarita in my Klean Kanteen, carrying beads for recycling!

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