Krewe of Freret and Boyfriend to Reduce Mardi Gras Environmental Impact in 2025

NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The Krewe of Freret Mardi Gras organization made a significant declaration in the name of environmental sustainability, community responsibility, and thought leadership. Starting in 2025, Freret will no longer permit their float riders to throw plastic beads. Celebrating their 10th parade in 2024, the organization vowed to, over the next 10 years, remove more than two million potentially toxic beads (301,750+ pounds) and over 100 thousand single-use plastic wrappers from the vulnerable New Orleans ecosystem, inspiring and protecting the next generation of Mardi Gras celebrants.

In recent years, beads have been the most popular throw choice for parading krewes and their riders and are generally included in all throw packages; however, the Krewe of Freret believes it’s time for something new.

In 2024, 81 percent of Freret’s throws were sustainable in some sense – even medallion beads doubled as refrigerator magnets for repurposing. In 2025, the krewe will take things a step further with the banning of plastic beads, and will continue to prioritize providing reusable, consumable and/or handmade items that parade-goers can truly cherish. Such items have been known to include Freret-branded hats, fanny packs, sunglasses, collapsible dog bowls, coloring books, tote bags, wooden doubloons, and the krewe’s signature hand-decorated masks.

“Make no mistake, this change is inspired by the Freret membership and confirmed by the leadership,” said Freret Captain Bobby Hjortsberg. “So many 2024 riders, both in-person and via our annual survey, requested the removal of plastic beads. This year, we were impacted by unwanted beads and discarded trash blocking our storm drains which caused rainwater to flood our streets. In addition to the ethical environmental stewardship considerations, riders invest substantial amounts of money into what are effectively gifts to parade attendees, and it’s important those gifts continue to be well received by locals and tourists alike for decades to come. Freret, along with our partners, is proud to lead the way. We’re honored to help reduce the environmental impact of Carnival season and increase the resiliency of the magical city of New Orleans.”

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With deep ties to the New Orleans music community, the theme of the krewe’s parade is “The Music of New Orleans” and they annually honor local culture-bearers with floats and props designed in their likenesses. Honorees have included Trombone Shorty (whose float boasts the largest animatronic prop in Mardi Gras history), LGBTQ+ icon Big Freedia, hip-hop legend Juvenile, and producer/performance artist Boyfriend – who will be taking on the newly created role of “Sustainability Advisor” for the krewe.

“We’re already seeing a major shift in the psyche of the modern parade-goer,” said Freret’s new sustainability advisor, Boyfriend. “Cheap plastic beads wind up on the ground or in storm drains, make their way into our water table leeching dangerous chemicals, and are packaged in excessive amounts of single-use plastic that blows off the floats and winds up all over the streets. Freret already reduced the bead count in 2024 replacing them with functional items, and it was clear during my ride that today’s parade-goer is beginning to value quality over quantity – for instance locally sourced items or handmade signature throws. While Mardi Gras will probably never be net-zero, we have a real, disturbing environmental waste problem in New Orleans. It’s time for change and I’m proud to deepen this critical partnership with my krewe to make a lasting impact.”

While Freret will continue to work with current partners to source ample supplies of appropriate throws, they’re calling on the community to voice their opinions and share their connections. Fans can submit their ideas to the krewe as well as join and change the paradigm by visiting their official website.

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