Mardi Gras Bead Recycling at Mississippi Aquarium

After you catch your Mardi Gras beads you might be wondering what to do with them.

Instead of throwing away your Mardi Gras cheer, bring your extra throws to the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport.

From now until April 2^nd, you can drop off your unwanted throws to the aquarium and they’ll bring the beads to the Arc of Greater New Orleans where they’ll be recycled.

Once the throws arrive, the arc turns bead sorting into jobs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Mississippi Aquarium’s recycling program goes hand-in-hand with their three mission pillars: education, conservation, and community. Mississippi Aquarium Communications Manager Jeff Clark said, “We are educating people about the dangers about what happens if the Mardi Gras beads and the plastic gets in the Mississippi Sound, how harmful it can be to our marine life if it gets in our rivers. Our conservation message is very strong. You bring them to us. We’ll recycle them for you. We’ll get rid of them. Creating jobs for people in New Orleans and then again at the same it is just something we do for the community because I think we’re one of the only places accepting beads.”

You can drop off your unwanted beads in front of the Mississippi Aquarium’s sails between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. now through April 2^nd.