Big Easy’s Biggest Party About to Get Greener with Biobased Mardi Gras Beads

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In Louisiana, 3-D Beads and Louisiana State University are working to create biodegradable beads to help reduce the environmental impact of New Orleans’ massive Mardis Gras party.

”About 98.5 percent of those beads end up in the landfill,” said 3-D Beads’ Marcu Ciko. “That’s an awful lot of plastic going in the trash each year. Some people try to recycle but for the most part, they wind up in the trash. And also, these beads are testing 1 percent lead content from EPA tests.” The new beads will be made from “renewable plant matter,” he adds.

Prototypes are still pending but Ciko tells WDSU News that he hopes to introduce a test batch for next years’ festivities.