ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING: Mardi Gras Beads and Unwanted Lagniappe

Photo Credit: National Geographic

By Nora Seilheimer

It’s tradition, y’all. Every Carnival season approximately 1 million of us donned in costumes, masks, and glitter stake claim on a sliver of land along the parade route. We mark our spot with empty bags open like hungry mouths awaiting the sea of throws about to burst from each passing float. As the parade rolls by, we reach one hand in the air (the other clutches our drink) desperate to appear taller than our neighbors, and catch bigger and better beads.

Some of us might be reminded of our Girl Scout or Boy Scout days during which we collected sew-on patches for each skill mastered. Mardi Gras beads operate in a similar fashion, but instead of telling the story of acquired survival skills, they show a smattering of our Mardi Gras clout. Large beads prove we’re a fun loving parade-goer, a Krewe’s signature beads indicate we’ve been accepted by the elite, an entire unopened plastic bag of beads dubs us the leader of our neighbors with whom we are expected to share our newfound wealth.

We drag bags of beads home and begin our own sorting ritual. As the novelty of separating each string into piles based on size, length, or color wears away we inevitably notice a funny smell emanating from each stack, like the stink lines ascending from cartoon poop. Then we shake our heads, take another sip of our Bloody Mary (breakfast) and ignore it. For that moment we’re filthy rich. Nothing else seems to matter as we post photos of our bounty on Instagram with the hashtag #mardigraslife. We might not realize another Carnival tradition taking place before our very eyes: Lagniappe. You see, we end every Carnival season rich in more than just beads.

We’re also rich in arsenic, hazardous flame retardants, cadmium and lead.

As a follow-up to a similar study conducted in 2013, HealthyStuff.org and VerdiGras combined efforts to examine the toxic makeup of our beloved Mardi Gras beads. They bought a total of 48 beaded necklaces from three wholesale retailers here in The Big Easy. Here’s what they found:

More than 80% of these beads contained at least one or more toxic chemicals

71% of the beaded necklaces purchased contained levels of lead that exceed Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC) standards for children’s products

Almost 80% of the beads contained high levels of bromine, a halogen found in flame retardants and insecticides. The name bromine comes from the latin word “bromos” which translates to “stench”

Jeff Gearhart, one of the directors of the study, told Louisiana Weekly that these harmful toxins are allowed in the casing of many electronics throughout the world. When we throw these electronics out, they’re sent to China where workers melt them down and then use the liquid substance in other products like Mardi Gras beads. Gearhart says these chemicals are unnecessary and serve no engineering purpose. They’re simply cheap and in excess. They appear to put everyone from the Chinese worker to the Louisianian parade-goer at risk.

Every Carnival season generates an estimated 25 million pounds of beaded necklaces, equivalent to the weight of 1000 school buses. Some of these beads make it in to our homes hanging like medals from various hooks or fence posts, but a lot of them wind up in places we don’t want our toxic lagniappe to potentially leave a permanent mark.

When these beads tangle in branches reaching over St. Charles, they expose our trees and wildlife to cancer-causing chemicals and metals. When they clog our storm drains (like the 93,000 pounds of beads cleaned out this past January), these same chemicals and metals permeate our water system, putting other animals at risk like our pet dogs or porch cats who find their hydration in curbside puddles. When they coil in children's’ mouths (or an unknowing reveler) they release lead into their bodies, putting them at risk for organ failure or brain damage.

But have no fear--scientists in Louisiana aren’t about to let the beads disappear from tradition or continue to wreak havoc on our bodies, family, and environment. LSU Biological Sciences Professor, Naohiro Kato, is in the process of perfecting biodegradable Mardi Gras beads, a discovery he and one his students made in error.

“My student was supposed to come into the lab three nights in a row to move our test tube samples of algae from the centrifuge to the freezer, but one night he forgot,” Kato told Alison Satake, head of LSU Media Relations.

The following morning, Kato discovered that some of the algae samples were collecting the oils needed to create bioplastic, or plastic that the earth can break down naturally.

“I believe we can change and do better. We have great resources to make our Mardi Gras celebrations more sustainable and to protect our environment and health,” Kato told Satake.

If you agree with Kato and think we can change and do better, here are some ways in which you might make yourself rich in green, toxic-free memories instead of piles of harmful beads in Carnival seasons to come:

Toss your beads in the “Catch-and-Release” floats rolling by at the end of most parades
Get involved with Verdi Gras and assist in their recycling efforts
Join or support Krewes with an earth-friendly parade like The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus
Make signs asking for glass bead necklaces instead, like those thrown this year at Krewe of Cleopatra and Krewe of Muses
Collect beads in your community (with your neighbors’ permission, of course!) and recycle them at various locations throughout the city