St. Patrick’s Day parade truly going green with new recycling effort

The Beauregard Town Civic Association says it’s taking the first step toward making Saturday’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Wearin’ of the Green, a truly green event, now that it has gotten the OK from the city-parish’s recycling department to institute a bead recycling program. The association says it will have a pickup truck positioned at the end of the parade with signage asking revelers to throw unwanted beads into the truck. In future years, the association hopes to have containers placed along the route for an easier drop-off. The association is partnering with nonprofit Options Foundation Inc. on the initiative. Residents with Options Foundation—which provides housing and support to those struggling with chronic mental illness—will sort through the recycled beads and repackage them for sale at the Options Resale Boutique on North Foster Drive. Profits will benefit the nonprofit and the neighborhood association. Saturday’s parade, the 27th annual, begins to roll at 10 a.m. Get full details and route info here.