Cleanup Krewe Mardi Gras Float

Mardi Gras season will soon be arriving and unfortunately its departure leaves our streets littered with rubbish. For the Mississippi Gulf Coast 2020 Carnival parade in Biloxi on Tuesday, February 25^th 2020, Plastic Free Gulf Coast and the Mississippi Coastal Cleanup Program are partnering to have a float! The float is named the “Cleanup Krewe” and will be at the very end of the parade as a cleanup float. The float will be constructed out of common marine debris found around our local communities and the trailer bed will be arranged to put bags of trash into it as it is collected. The “krewe” members will walk with the float either collecting trash from parade attendees (via fun “circus” activities) or picking up trash left behind on the parade route. We won’t be able to get all of the trash but with some amazing volunteers, we sure will get a lot of it! We are opening this as a volunteer opportunity to anyone who wants to be involved!

Ways you can be involved and contribute include:

·         Help with float construction &/or design.

·         Volunteer during the parade as a member of the “krewe” to pick up trash or collect data.

·         Donate materials (float construction materials, wood, trash for float design, paint, etc.).

The parade will consist of a lot of walking, so if you want to contribute but can’t commit to walking the entire time, please feel free to help us build the float. We are looking at 3-5 building days for the float (first building day is scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, January 24^th) , and one meeting for all volunteers who are participating in the parade (early-mid February).

Join us in efforts to keep Mardi Gras 2020 krazy fun and krazy clean! Please contact Mandy Sartain for more information or if you have any questions at amanda.sartain@msstate.edu.