City of Tampa’s Department of Solid Waste & Environmental Program Management will start the Bead Reuse Program for the 2023 event season.
Starting Monday, January 30 through May 2023, Gasparilla revelers are encouraged to take unwanted beads to any of the following collection sites during their normal operating hours:
- Kate Jackson Community Center – 821 S Rome Ave.
- Loretta Ingraham Recreation Complex – 1611 N Hubert Ave.
- Copeland Park Center – 11001 N 15th St.
- MacDonald Training Center – 5420 W Cypress St.
The City of Tampa will partner with the MacDonald Training Center, a local non-profit working to empower people with disabilities, for the Bead Reuse Program. The program creates an outlet for unwanted beads and diverts them from Tampa’s waste stream.
Beads are cleaned, repackaged, and reused the next parade season all while providing valuable, vocational skills gained by the Training Center’s clients.
From the inception of the program, with the help of Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful volunteers and City staff, over 10,000 lbs. of beads have been delivered to the MacDonald Training Center for reuse. That is more than 330,000 individual bead necklaces.
Between Tampa’s Bead Free Bay awareness campaign and the Bead Reuse program, we will further protect our marine life and advance our commitment to reducing waste. Beads and other non-biodegradable items are incredibly harmful to our environment and pose serious threats to marine wildlife.
Beads take a thousand years to break down into smaller pieces called microplastics, which never decompose. These microplastics remain persistent in natural ecosystems. Help by doing your part and making sure your beads get reused.
For additional information on the Bead Reuse Collection Program, please visit our website at www.tampa.gov/BeadFreeBay.