Today is Mardi Gras in New Orleans, marking the last day of their carnival season. It’s all about music, parades, picnics, floats and excitement.
One of the many traditions involves revellers on floats throwing doubloons, beads, cups, homemade trinkets, toys and more to parade-goers as the floats pass by. This sounds like harmless fun, but Dr David Redmon’s research shows that the fun does not extend to those producing the articles thrown. The celebratory atmosphere couldn’t be more different from the grim factories in China, where teenage girls work around the clock making and stringing together the green, purple and gold beads.
Read about the making of the beads in David’s article ‘The destructive life of a Mardi Gras bead’ in The Conversation. David follows the production of the beads and explains why they should be replaced with throws made with organic, biodegradable ingredients.