New Orleans has grown to regret something about Mardi Gras — and it has nothing to do with Bourbon Street.
The holiday is synonymous with its purple, green, and gold beads, millions upon millions of which are thrown into crowds as dozens of parades go by daily, leading up to Fat Tuesday. They were once considered a lucky catch and a sign of good fortune, but now, with the number of plastic beaded necklaces tossed out by the handful, some spectators are ducking out of the way to avoid getting hit by them.
But this year, three groups took the initiative to try out an entirely new necklace: 3D-printed, biodegradable beads from Louisiana State University.
Mardi Gras contributes to 1,000 tons of garbage every year
The week-long Carnival celebration is estimated to produce more than 1,000 tons of garbage every year in New Orleans. In 2018 alone, cleaning crews reported having sucked out more than 46 tons of Mardi Gras beads from catch basins across five blocks, after heavy flooding impacted the city.
Even with the growing problem, a lot of the krewes, which are social organizations that stage the parades and events for Mardi Gras, have not banned plastic beads. Mardi Gras celebrations also bring in around $900 million in revenue for New Orleans, which is almost 4% of the city's annual revenue.
Krewes generally continue to throw plastic beads, mostly because of how traditional they are and how inexpensive they are. Every krewe rider on a float is told to buy their own necklaces to toss. The beaded necklaces, although originally glass beads, have been a part of Mardi Gras since the 1880s, and became predominantly plastic in the 1960s.
But in 2025, Krewe of Freret became the first group to ban plastic beads. Instead, their parade float focused on tossing more sustainable items like soap, glass beads, hats, and toys.
"Our riders loved it because the spectators don't value this anymore," Freret co-founder Greg Rhoades told the Associated Press. "It's become so prolific that they dodge out of the way when they see cheap plastic beads coming at them."
This year, Freret brought back beads, but instead joined two other groups in prioritizing the biodegradable ones produced by LSU. The "PlantMe Beads" are 3D-printed from starch and polylactic acid (PLA), a plant-based plastic, a graduate student told AP. The beads are hollow and contain okra seeds — meaning the beads could be planted after the celebration ends, and the okra should help the beads decompose.
In total, the groups tossed out 3,000 PlantMe Bead necklaces. In comparison, however, it's estimated that on average, one krewe would throw over one million beaded necklaces per parade.
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$200 or more 💰 LSU Professor Naohiro Kato is behind the project and, according to LSU's blog, initially began building a prototype for the beads in 2021 using microscopic algae. It was too expensive to make and scale, which is why the group then pivoted to 3D printing.
"Our goal is to provide people with a better choice with [an] affordable price so they can celebrate while also protecting the environment," Dr. Kato told The Cool Down. "We are still waiting for feedback from the riders, but overall, parade-goers have loved the beads."
Why are plastic beads such a problem?
Plastic beads are both an environmental waste and a sanitation issue, according to a 2019 report from the LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources. It doesn't help that it's very costly to effectively clean everything up. In 2014, the New Orleans city government spent $1.5 million to clear out 1,500 tons of Mardi Gras waste, which was mostly beads.
In 2020, the Ecology Center analyzed 56 different necklaces and garlands from Mardi Gras celebrations in Florida and Louisiana between 2018 and 2019. The report found that most of the items had high levels of bromine, antimony, and lead, and that the majority of the beads had high levels of chlorine, potentially from flame-retardant sprays.
Because of their size, beads are usually left entangled in trees, which can impact the nearby plants, and easily enter storm drains — many of which, in New Orleans, lead to Lake Pontchartrain and other waterways.
New Orleans has tried to handle the waste in the past. Groups like ArcGNO and Glass Half Full have coordinated with collection services, hotels, and college campuses throughout the city to make it easier for Mardi Gras parties to recycle their plastic beads. There are several drop-off bins and disposal sites set up throughout the city, and some groups will collect and comb through the tossed beads to see if any are good enough to be sold back to the krewes for the following year's celebration.
The city also has a rule that "krewe members are prohibited from throwing boxes, non-biodegradable paper streamers, and empty, single-use plastic bags for bulk items from floats."
But LSU is taking the celebration in the right direction with its PlantMe Beads.
"We hope PlantMe Beads will inspire many to embrace a more sustainable Mardi Gras tradition," Dr. Kato said. "Throwing and catching beads that are environmentally friendly."
But LSU is taking the celebration in the right direction with its PlantMe Beads. The group plans to start accepting orders for 2027 Mardi Gras beads soon.
"It remains a challenge for the city to ban the throwing of plastic materials," Dr. Kato told The Cool Down. "For Mardi Gras to become truly sustainable, individual actions are more important than government mandates alone."
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