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2023 Krewe De Coulee Recap

When the Mardi Gras festivities come to an end, what happens to all of the trash left behind after the parades? Discarded trash, litter, and beads from parades affect the beauty of our campus and community and can end up in our stormwater systems and waterways after heavy rains. On Thursday, February 23rd the Office of Sustainability hosted the 1st annual Krewe de Coulee Post Mardi Gras Clean Up to help clean up Johnson street and keep our coulees clean! We had 45 volunteers in the Krewe de Coulee who collected 45 trashbags of litter.

Impact of Litter:

Litter poses a threat to wildlife and provides breeding ground for insects and rodents.
Litter on our roads and highways can lead to accidents and pose a threat to our lives.
Litter can be composed of flammable materials that could easily start or spread a fire.
Litter can lead to soil, water, and air pollution.
Litter is an eyesore - litter breeds more litter.
Litter is a breeding ground for bacteria and diseases that can be spread by direct and indirect contact.
Litter clean ups can be costly and can potentially lower property values.
Litter that makes it way into storm drains can cause flooding.
Litter that enters our local waterways, like our two coulees (Coulee Mine Branch and St. John Coulee), will end up in our rivers and eventually our oceans if we don’t stop it at the source.

While litter can often seem like a small thing, the impact of it is huge on our community and all of its residents! If you see trash on the ground you can pick it up and become an environmental steward to our campus and community. Thanks again to all the volunteers who helped with the post Mardi Gras clean up in the Krewe de Coulee! We would also like to thank Keep Louisiana Beautiful for sponsoring our T-shirts through the Univeristy Affiliate Grant.