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NEW ORLEANS, LA – Once again, ARC of Greater New Orleans  is busy recycling donated beads and trinkets from last year’s carnival season! This year, a record breaking 173 tons of beads will be sorted by volunteers and workers to be sold back to the community for throws this season.

“Oh gosh, tons of sorting, organizing, collecting and packaging!” said Cathy Brown, who heads the Mardi Gras Recycle Center.

Arc of GNO not only hopes to help reduce the amount of beads that clog our drainage systems every year, their mission is also to employ as many disabled members of our community as possible.

“Why not? They are more than capable! They work hard and they love their paychecks!” joked Brown.

Currently, the organization employs 8 full-time employees and over 80 part-time workers.

Last year, ARCGNO had over 70 locations and more than 125 bins placed around the community and collected over 173 tons of throws in 2019. This year, the group hopes to collect even more!

ARCGNO has 5 locations across the Greater New Orleans Region. To purchase recycled beads at a discounted rate, visit the retail shop located at 925 Labarre Rd. 

For a listing of drop off locations and to volunteer, visit https://arcgno.org/throw-us-something-mister/