Mardi Gras is not just a holiday: It is a full-scale cultural event that takes over the city for weeks. Entire neighborhoods transform into spaces of celebration and tradition. Despite this, behind the parades and parties, Mardi Gras leaves behind significant environmental damage that city officials, nonprofits and residents are working to address.  

The damage from Mardi Gras on the New Orleans environment must be addressed.  

In 2023, there was over 1,100 tons of plastic cups, beads and other trash left behind after the 11 days of celebration. While the parades may only last a few hours, the cleanup can take days. The waste that comes with Mardi has become so normalized that it is forgotten, and the city is left to deal with the mess. 

Beads have become a growing concern for sustainability. Millions of beads thrown each season are made of natural gas and oil-derived feedstock that cause extreme damage to the city’s infrastructure. Amid large crowds and loud celebrations, I never consider what happens to the hundreds of beads thrown each minute. During my parade outings, I never noticed there were bead recycling bins all around the city. 

Cleanup and waste effort groups have formed to help organize post-parade cleanups. Some Krewes, like the Grounds Krewe have begun to introduce more environmentally friendly throws such as reusable items. To make Mardi more environmentally safe, projects like Recycle Dat offer exciting incentives to spread sustainability awareness.   

Mardi Gras outfits have also been changing in recent years to be more sustainable. Resale markets and clothing sales at Tulane have become a popular alternative to buying fast-fashioned pieces to be worn only once. This shift has become not only a money saver, but a way to keep clothing out of landfills once the holiday ends.  

When social media is filled with new curated outfits every day of this holiday, it is easy to forget most of those outfits have been resold by past students. Between themed accessories, big boots and last-minute orders, the cost of dressing adds fast. Rather than discarding all the clothing purchased for one week, I find it worth holding on to and reselling them when the next Mardi Gras season rolls around.  

As Carnival season ramps up, its important students and parade attendees pay extra attention to disposing of their trash properly along the route, be mindful of where their clothes are from and seek out recycling programs for any extra beads.