SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)— Shreveport Green is collecting Mardi Gras beads throughout the city until March 30th to divert ...

Among them: headbands made of recycled T-shirts; beads made out of paper ... "These efforts will help green Mardi Gras," said Christy Leavitt, of the group Oceana, in an email.

Specifically, purple, gold, green, and silver beads. So what is the meaning behind the beads at Mardi Gras? Here's what we know about why the beads were incorporated into this celebration and why ...

A successful Mardi Gras used to be measured ... "I like some beads," she added, showing off a small collection of purple, green and gold throws she'd already caught from passing floats that ...

the beads make their landing, tangling themselves—purple, green, and golden plastic—in often-bare limbs. The streets speak, too. As the good times roll at Mardi Gras, float by float ...

But environmentalists are worried about the huge amount of nonbiodegradable plastic beads that wind up mixed in all the other Mardi Gras trash. It has led to movements to collect and reuse plastic ...