Once all of the Mardi Gras parades are over and the pile of beads on the living room floor grows enormous, the question might be what to do with all of these beads?

There are a few options for Teche Area residents who don’t necessarily want to keep them all.

For several years, Goodwill has accepted donations of beads. They do, conveniently, all year long.

Bill Smith / The Daily Iberian - Joyce Saucier, 80, tosses beads to the crowds from her chair on the Just for Fun float in the Mardi Gras parade in Franklin on Tuesday. Advertisement

“We are in partnership with another company who hires disabled people to go through and separate them,”  said Mozella Orphe, manager of the Goodwill store on Admiral Doyle Drive in New Iberia. “We sell them back to the public and the money collected is divided up among the surrounding communities.”

Arc of Iberia also collects Mardi Gras bead donations.

“We collect them at our used clothing stores,” said Natalie Mouton, director of Arc employment services.

“Its great for us because it provides work for the individuals who are employed with Arc.”

Like Goodwill, Arc workers separate and bag the donated beads by color and sell them back to the community.

Mouton said that more than providing revenue for the organization, the donations provide opportunities for the people who are employed by Arc.

Area residents can drop off donations at the Main Street store or the resale store on Center Street.

Residents wanting to donate their Mardi Gras collectibles might check with the art departments at the area schools. Bobby Guidry at Allied Waste said that in the past he has heard of art departments accepting beads for upcoming projects. However, one thing residents cannot do with all those beads is fill up their recycling bins.

“While they are plastic, they are considered contaminated because of the string that holds them together,” Guidry said.

It remains up to area residents whether to choose to keep this year’s Mardi Gras booty as a remembrance or donate it to make room for next year’s catch.