NEW ORLEANS — City Council is considering amending a coming ban on throwing toilet paper during parades for the Krewe of Tucks. The bathroom-themed krewe has been slinging its signature throw since the 1970s.
Over the years, throwing toilet paper has become popular with riders and krewes. Trees along the parade route are left covered in it after Mardi Gras, and the city and krewes count on rain to clean it up.
After last year’s Carnival season, it did not rain for three weeks, which meant the paper stayed up for longer than usual.
Some consider it a fun reminder, others an eyesore. Ultimately, though, the bigger problem is the threat to the city’s sewage drains. When the paper does not “dissolve properly,” it does “clog up the pipes,” said City Council President JP Morrell Wednesday.
In late 2023, the council passed an ordinance banning toilet paper as a parade throw. It was suspended until 2025.
Now, it is considering an amendment that would make an exception for the Krewe of Tucks. The krewe was founded in 1969 and, according to President and Co-Founder Lloyd Frischhertz, began throwing toilet paper just two years later. “When you have something that’s happened over half a century, it’s engraved in Mardi Gras,” Frischhertz said.
The Krewe of Tucks parade is a send-up of other krewes’ grand traditions. Besides the toilet paper, riders hand out decorated plungers, and the King of Tucks rolls down the street atop a giant toilet.
Wednesday a Council committee discussed the proposed amendment. JP Morrell, who authored it, pointed to the krewe’s history and theme as the reason. “I think that when you are a krewe that revolves around throwing toilets, throwing toilet paper is probably appropriate,” he said.
The next step will be to bring the amendment before the full council. Morrell said there is no set date yet.
If Tucks is granted the exception, they will have to use “single-ply, fully biodegradable, and marine-grade” toilet paper, and will be forbidden from using “paper cannons or any other mechanical device intended to launch or disburse paper products.”
Frischhertz said the krewe has been working on finding the right paper for months. “Our vendor has been reaching out to every vendor, scientifically seeing what makes it biodegradable. The porousness of the paper is the main thing.”
Specialty paper like that also costs more. Frischhertz said he believes it is worth it though, “because we think it is important.”