Fete, Re-purpose, Recycle, Repeat!

Carnival is over. And we may be proud of the clean streets on Ash Wednesday. But where does it all go: the glitter, the beads, mylar strips, armbands, feathers, zippers and flag poles, plastic and metallic supports? Dr Anjani Ganase suggests we take a sober look at waste generated by Carnival, and make better plans for the next one.

Carnival is rags, flags, beads, feathers and bumsies set in motion to a soca beat. It is symbolic of excess in every way but an integral part of our culture. While the drinking, wining and waving can be put away for another year, the materials in the costumes, the single use plastic containers, cups and cutlery used to water and feed people on the road used on two days of masquerading, as well as at the fetes happening in the two months leading up to carnival can amount to more than a hill of garbage. Hundreds of thousand masqueraders and revellers generate a huge amount of plastic waste. The majority of this will end up in land fills, in our drains and likely to run into our waterways, wetlands and finally to the oceans.

Man–o–War King and Queen costumes made from plastic waste and reused materials. Photo courtesy Maple Leaf International School.

However, times are changing and carnival bands and associations are slowly becoming aware of the responsibility to limit the pollution to the environment. Of note, the Tribe carnival band teamed up with the Environmental Management Authority for the iCare initiative, banning plastic straws at all their fetes and facilitating the collection and recycling of all plastic, aluminium and tetrapaks. On Carnival Monday and Tuesday, masqueraders were served food and drinks in paper-based containers, rather than Styrofoam. This was a collaboration with Hello Green and SWMCOL. For a band that hosts more than 5000 masqueraders over the two-day melee, this will be a significant reduction in waste. Imagine if all the other bands and feting associations get on board? This action alone will not only reduce the plastic waste but will stir change in the supply companies to include more sustainably sourced serving containers. When the end users are conscious and go green, they call for the infrastructure to reduce and recycle waste; and it becomes easier for individuals to comply even outside the carnival season. 

This Amazon princess used the moulted feathers of a friend’s parrots. If you collect feathers – or enough of anything else, dried leaves, pebbles on a beach, pull-tabs from food or beverage cans – you can have enough in a year to make your own unusual Carnival headpiece. Photo courtesy Isabel Brash.

What can masqueraders do to reduce their waste? 

Another major source of waste comes from the materials - beads, feathers and decorations - used to make the costumes, worn for one or two days and then never again; it’s an unusual form of single use plastics. While some nostalgic carnival goers may hold on to their costumes as a reminder of all their carnival memories, as the next year comes around, new memories are made, and slowly but surely, old carnival costumes make their way to curb side for pick up. An alternative to throwing away your costume might be re-purposing the materials beads, feathers, wires for a good cause? Every year, artist, Jaime Lee Loy, hosts art camps for children and young adults. For this, Jaime dutifully sources bits and pieces of plastics and costumes from friends and people to be used in her art exercises. 

Selecting recycled materials for creating safe spaces for Summer Heroes 2018 in Tobago. Photo courtesy Jaime Lee Loy

Jaime also runs the Summer Heroes programme, which is a not-for-profit art programme where she works with art therapists utilizing art therapy exercises for personal development. Every year, Jaime works with a different group in Trinidad and Tobago. One of the signature art therapy exercises is called Safe Spaces, which helps children to shape their hero identities; they are encouraged to model their own superhero safe space – akin to the Bat Cave for Batman. These exercises are structured to promote social responsibility, self-awareness and self-healing through art. The safe spaces are designed using collected recycled materials from carnival costumes and other sources. Carnival itself becomes a source of inspiration – to imagine an ‘other’ self – as well as a resource for materials to be reused.

Safe spaces made from repurposed materials from carnival costumes and packaging materials. Photo courtesy Jaime Lee Loy

There are other places that will use and re-purpose Carnival materials to stir imaginations and creativity. This year, Maple Leaf International School focussed on reusing materials and plastics to make their carnival King and Queen costumes. This is not a new concept, in fact even when I was in primary school, I also remember collecting odd containers, newspapers and fabric for costume designing. The challenge was for students to think creatively using re-purposed materials. In 2019, King and Queen winners of the middle school competition were a couple of jiggling Man-O-War jellyfish. Old umbrellas were used as frames for the body of jellyfish, and the plastic snack wrappers were used in the decorations, tentacles were made from kite paper and battery-operated LED Christmas tree lights sparkled in the folds. This was a timely lesson about marine life as jellyfish are among the many marine species that can be choked by the very plastics used to make the costumes as small pieces get entangled within their cavity. Think about actively collecting old costume pieces and materials for your children’s art teachers. Not only for Carnival, but art projects all year round.

Jellyfish King and Queen move to Kes The Band’s Savannah Grass at Maple Leaf International School’s 2019 masquerade competition. Video courtesy Maple Leaf International School

All these activities simply extend the working life of these plastics; and at the same time reduce the need to purchase new materials. In the near future, many utilitarian and decorative items are likely to be made from recycled or plastic-based, biodegradable alternatives. Glitter for example, is a type of micro-plastic that gets everywhere even into our marine life and even our own digestive systems. However, innovative products, such as biodegradable glitter and stockings made from plant cellulose and wood material, are becoming more accessible. New fabric is now being produced at substantial scales directly from ocean waste. By coupling repurposed materials with ecofriendly purchases and responsible disposal and recycling, carnival can also be a green venture.

Resourcefulness, conservation and innovation are the tools that schools use: parts of this costume were made from rolls of magazine paper. That was over 20 years ago! Photo courtesy Ranji Ganase

Jaime welcomes all reusable material from the headpieces, wrist and ankle bands and wing fabric (please keep your sweaty bra!). If you would like to donate your pieces, please dismantle your costume as much as possible, just as you do with your recyclables, and collect all the beads, feathers, wire and even fabric pieces. Connect with Wild Tobago or Jaime directly (artcampwithauntyjaime@gmail.com) to arrange collection.