Tips for cleaning up after Mardi Gras parades

What’s often left behind after our Coast Mardi Gras parades roll is raising concerns among some in the community. This year, volunteers who help with clean up are asking paradegoers for their help.

Kristen Kaylor with the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center reports.

Communities across South Mississippi will soon line the streets for Mardi Gras parades and celebrations.

But once the floats roll by and crowds disperse, volunteers say what’s left behind can create lasting environmental concerns.

In 2025, volunteers with the Mardi Gras Cleanup Krewe collected 462 pounds of trash after a parade on the coast.

Volunteer Evelyn McQueen says more than half of that was plastic beads. “We need a cultural change into how we’re treating Mardi Gras.”

McQueen also works with Mississippi State Coastal Research and Extension Center.

She says if it’s not picked up, parade trash gets into storm drains, which flow directly into coastal waterways. “Most people don’t know, what goes into storm drains doesn’t actually go through the sewer system and then get cleaned. It comes out of those outfalls, those big pipes going out into the sound, that’s where a lot of that goes.”

McQueen warns that once trash reaches the water, it can harm wildlife, break down into microplastics and even make its way into drinking water.

Volunteer cleanups help address the immediate mess, but McQueen says they aren’t enough on their own. “We can clean up every day, all day, and there’s going to continue to be trash unless people stop throwing their trash out.”

She says prevention is key — like better access to trash cans and choosing reusable or biodegradable parade throws.