The revellers making Trinidad’s carnival more sustainable

Dazzling costumes to the exuberant parties, the Trinidad carnival is often nicknamed “the biggest spectacle of the earth”.

But some of its elements are not exactly respectful of the environment and that the festivities produce 3.4 tonnes of waste each year according to Carnicycle, a local initiative aimed at making festivities more sustainable.

Danii McLETCHIE, who co -founded Carnicycle in 2018, says that if Carnival “is a large part of our culture”, it also has a very negative “environmental impact of events, textiles, costumes” used by two days of mass, spectators and sellers participating in the annual parade over the two days of ashes.

The production and transport of a single carnival costume bra can generate around 37.68 kg (83 lb) of CO2 emissions, carnicycle estimates according to the calculations made using an online tool provided by the Swedish technology company Docuonomy.

Danii and her team work for this estimate to be checked by a third party, but with tens of thousands of mascarraders who exceed each year, she says that the number of programs is a concern.

To reduce these emissions, Carnicycle has launched a recycling program, collecting unused costumes that have been thrown or burned by masquerade bands, which use new costume designs each year.

Carnicycle also sets up collection bins in hotels and other sites so that the costumes thrown can be reused.

“Until last year, we collected around 10,000 pieces of costumes,” Danii told the BBC, describing the arduous task of completely taking up costume trucks to preserve feathers, pearls and other materials for future use.

The materials recovered are sold to costumers, back -ups and people from the burlesque industry, which save by buying second hand.

Carnicycle also praises the large backpack parts which are a popular part of the costumes worn at the Trinidad carnival. Their price can reach $ 700 (£ 550), depending on the size.

Danii explains that they had the idea after hearing revelers complaining not only of expenses but also the weight of backpack parts. “‘I pay so much money, but it’s heavy and when it’s lunch, I just want to throw it away,” recalls Danni.

Carnicycle praises the backpacks with mascarrades long enough so that they can pose for photos, but are released from the load of their load during the parade.

The co -founder of Danii and Carnicycle, Luke Harris – who both occupy full -time jobs in addition to their environment initiative – are not the only ones to spend their free time to make Trinidad carnival that is both fun and environmentally friendly

Lawyer Aliyah Clarke and fashion designer Kaleen Sanois launched a secondary company called 2nd closet – a pop -up savings shop where people can buy and sell used clothes.

The two also made video tutorials with advice on how to transform costumes into beach clothes and outfits for other occasions.

Aliya told the BBC that it was something she had done for her first: “After finishing my costume, I would tear her down, literally until the thread, and I would find how to do something else outside the carnival.”

Now she shares her ideas in a video segment that the two millennials have nicknamed “Tipsy Tuesday”.

They also offer a closet locking service, which consists of coming to a person and sorting unwanted clothes, to save items suitable for sale in their pop-up savings shop.

In what Kaleen thinks of being a testimony to the work they have done, they were asked to sort the sprawling closet of Machel Montano, a musician known as “King of Soca” and a superstar in the world of carnival.

“Clothes are personal things, especially for someone like Machel who has so many great moments linked to his pieces,” explains Kaleen.

After sorting Machel’s shoes and clothes, the 2nd closet organized a two-day pop-up shop, giving people a chance to buy items worn by Machel on stage and in his clips.

“People came with photos and were like” I’m looking for this play “,” remembers Aliyah about fans’ enthusiasm for used articles.

But costumes and outfits are not the only recycled articles to make Trinidad’s festivities more respectful of the environment.

At Fete with the Saints, a party that many consider one of the best Trinidad carnival, food is consumed with biodegradable wooden cutlery and drinks are poured into reusable cups.

The organizers of the FETE – a fundraising for one of the best secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago – also hire “BAC detectives” to ensure that customers sort properly and have their waste for recycling.

It is estimated that this year, bac detectives contributed to more than double the quantity of recyclables captured, compared to the previous two years combined.

“In the past three years, we have prevented more than a million single-use plastics from entering the discharge, I may think more than five tonnes of glass,” said Vandana Mangroo, co-founder of Close The Loop Caribbean, a company that has started working with the organizers of Fete with the holys in 2023 to make the event more sustainable.

Joseph Hadad, co -president of the party’s organizing committee, says that those behind the event knew that their efforts to make it green “would add a layer of costs and more work”. But it is categorical “it worked” and insists that the spirit of the party was not attenuated.

These green efforts are greeted by customers such as Roland Riley, who praised him as “a good initiative from Fete with the saints to follow this road”.