Each year, thousands of Mardi Gras beads are tossed to screaming fans, who in turn toss them in the garbage. Then the beads end up in the city landfills. Sierra Club and The Arc, formerly the Association for Retarded Citizens, have coordinated a city-wide Mardi Gras bead recycling program. This is the first year Sierra Club has participated in the program, but The Arc began years ago.
Barrels will be available at Hilton Riverside, Martin Wine Cellar, Audubon Nature Center, Audubon Zoo, Whole Foods Market, McGehee School and Elmwood Fitness Center, and all 15 branches of the Jefferson Parish Library,.
“There are some barrels already out,” Betty Brody, of Sierra Club, said.
