Confetti is Litter
In partnership with Heal the Ocean, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, and Downtown Santa Barbara, the City of Santa Barbara would like to remind the community that throwing and leaving confetti, sequins, glitter, and silly string on the ground is littering.
The use of confetti at Santa Barbara parades and festivals is growing, in both the number of events where confetti is used and the volume of confetti tossed. While confetti eggs or cascarones have long been a tradition at Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days, we are now seeing large bags of confetti being dumped on our sidewalks, streets, and parks during Summer Solstice, Fourth of July, Fiesta, and Holiday parades and celebrations.
In addition to paper confetti, the volume of shiny metallic confetti, sequins, glitter, and silly string is increasing. These are all made of plastic and are often mistaken for food and consumed by birds and other animals. Confetti can easily wash or blow into our storm drains, creeks, and ocean, where it poses a threat to aquatic life.
While you’re celebrating in Santa Barbara, we encourage you to choose paper confetti and use it sparingly!
- Storm drains lead to our creeks and ocean untreated.
- Confetti can be mistaken for food by birds, fish, and other wildlife.
- Shiny metallic confetti, sequins, glitter, and silly string are all made of plastic, which is not biodegradable.
- Throwing confetti and leaving it behind is littering!
Are you a vendor making cascarones to sell?
Please only use paper confetti (or leaves!), and do not add plastic or foam decorations on the outside of the eggs.
Selling Cascarones
La venta cascarones
Want to help spread the word about confetti litter?
Download and share confetti outreach materials.