Biodegradable Mardi Gras beads help make Carnival season more sustainable

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It’s Carnival season in New Orleans. That means billions of green, gold and purple Mardi Gras beads.

Once made of glass and cherished by parade goers who were lucky enough to catch them, today cheap plastic bead necklaces from overseas are tossed by the handful from the floats. Spectators sometimes put dozens around their necks, but many are trashed or left on the ground. A few years ago, after heavy flooding, the city found more than 46 tons of it blocking its storm drains.

Beads are increasingly seen as a problem, but a Mardi Gras without beads also seems unimaginable. That’s why the Krewe de Freret’s decision last year to ban plastic beads from its parade was a radical step.

“Our riders loved it because spectators don’t enjoy it anymore,” said Freret co-founder Greg Rhoades. “It’s become so prolific that they move out of the way when they see cheap plastic beads coming at them.”

This year, beads are back, but not the cheap plastic ones. Freret is one of three fraternities launching biodegradable beads developed at Louisiana State University.

The “PlantMe beads” are 3D printed from a commercially available starch-based material called polylactic acid, or PLA, said graduate student Alexis Strain. The individual beads are large hollow spheres containing okra seeds. This is because the collars can actually be planted and the okra attracts bacteria that helps them decompose.

2.5 million pounds of waste

Kristi Trail, executive director of the Pontchartrain Conservancy, said plastic beads are a dual problem. First, they block storm drains, causing flooding. Then, those that aren’t captured in the sewers are released directly into Lake Pontchartrain, where they can harm marine life. The group is currently preparing to study microplastics in the lake.

The trend toward a more sustainable Mardi Gras has been growing for years and includes a small but growing variety of more thoughtful products like food, soaps and sunglasses. Trail said there is currently no reliable data to say whether these efforts are having an impact, but the group recently received a grant that should help it answer the question in the future.

“Beads are obviously a problem, but we generate about 2.5 million pounds of waste because of Mardi Gras,” Trail said.

First Algae Beads, Now PlantMe Beads

Strain works in the lab of Professor Naohiro Kato, associate professor of biology at LSU. He came up with the idea of ​​developing biodegradable beads in 2013 after speaking with people concerned about the environmental impact of the celebration. As a plant biologist, Kato knew that bioplastics could be made from plants and was curious about the possibilities.

The lab’s first iteration of biodegradable beads took place in 2018, when they produced beads made from a bioplastic derived from microalgae. However, production costs were too high for algae-based beads to provide a practical alternative to petroleum-based beads. Strain then began experimenting with 3D printing and the PlantMe Bead was born.

For the 2026 Carnival season, LSU students produced 3,000 PlantMe Bead necklaces that they are donating to three fraternities in exchange for feedback on the design and how well they received from spectators.

The funny thing, Kato said, is that people told him they loved the uniqueness of the PlantMe beads and wanted to keep them.

“So wait a minute, if you want to keep it, the plastic and petroleum Mardi Gras bead is the best, because that won’t last,” he said.

“Let’s throw away the things people like.”

The lab is still working on ideas for a more sustainable Mardi Gras. Strain is experimenting with another 3D printer material that biodegrades quickly without needing to be planted. Kato is talking with local schools about turning Mardi Gras bead making into a community project. He imagines students printing necklaces in 3D while learning about bioplastics and plant biology. And it’s still exploring ways to make algae-based bioplastic commercially viable.

But ultimately, Kato said, the goal shouldn’t be to replace a plastic bead with a less harmful one. He hopes Mardi Gras will embrace the idea of ​​less waste.

Rhoades said Freret was heading in the same direction.

“In 2025, we were the first Krewe – a major parade organization – to say, ‘No more. No more cheap beads. Let’s release things that people enjoy, that people enjoy, that can be used year-round,” Rhoades said.

One of the most coveted items they release are baseball caps with the Freret logo. He sees people wearing hats all over town and he says other fraternities have noticed.

“I truly believe that we, as well as other fraternities, are capable of inspiring your greatest fraternities,” he said. “They want people to love their products. They want people to take their products home, use them, talk about them, post them on social media and say, ‘Look what I just captured!'”

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Loller reported from Nashville, Tennessee.