For the second year in a row, our Every Can Counts U.S. initiative teamed up with the New Orleans Office of Resilience & Sustainability, Grounds Krewe and other local organizations for the Recycle Dat! campaign.
Recycle Dat! is a community-wide effort to make Mardi Gras more sustainable by providing convenient recycling options along the parade route at designated recycling hubs and through partnership programmes, including the Every Can Counts PixelCan installation created by local New Orleans artist Erika Moore. The art installation depicted the recycling chasing arrows symbol in Mardi Gras-themed purple, yellow and green colours.
All the used aluminium cans collected along the Mardi Gras routes will be taken to the EMR Metal Recycling‘s Mid-City location, which will pay the market rate for the cans. Every Can Counts U.S. will also match the revenue generated and all proceeds will support three local charities: Grow Dat Youth Farm, S.O.U.L. and T.R.E.E. Nola.
Last year, this initiative raised approximately $3,000 and collected approximately 145,000 cans. We aim to surpass this goal with a bigger Mardi Gras activation and presence that includes a festival celebration called Recycle World, which is located on the Uptown Parade routes.
This year, the programme was featured in national media, including BBC Travel, Travel & Leisure Magazine, NPR Radio, and The Associated Press. This year’s event also more than doubled the Every Can Counts U.S. Instagram followers thanks to fun and engaging contests, viral influencer partnerships, and geotargeted advertising.