Here in New Orleans, we find ourselves in the midst of the Mardi Gras season, which for the local community implies all kinds of rituals, traditions, and distractions. Mardi Gras is one of the largest celebrations in the world, sometimes referred to as “the greatest free show on earth”. A byproduct of this multi-week celebration season is an inordinate amount of waste that puts a tremendous strain on our, already fragile local and regional environment. In this episode, we speak with Brett Davis, a New Orleans native grown entrepreneur and environmental activist who is the Founding Director of Grounds Krewe, a non-profit dedicated to the Sisyphisian task of making Mardi Gras sustainable, reducing waste, recycling, while transforming the culture surrounding the LITERAL tons of plastic beads and other throws that have become a defining feature of the parades. Brett shares with us his inspiring dedication to the future health and resilience of our City, and his vision for what a more sustainable New Orleans looks like.

Brett Davis

Grounds Krewe
Founding Director

Brett is a native New Orleanian and graduate of Trinity Episcopal School, Isidore Newman, the College of Charleston and the Louisiana State University Master of Landscape Architecture program. While receiving his secondary degree, he was a research assistant in the Coastal Sustainability Studio, an interdisciplinary laboratory focused on reducing the causes and effects associated with coastal land loss. In 2013 he started a design business, Land Cover, that is still in operation, to help clients revitalize buildings and vacant lots in historically significant neighborhoods around New Orleans. Eventually, his lifelong passion for nature and travel lead him to attempt to solve an environmental problem unique to his hometown, Mardi Gras waste, and in 2018 Grounds Krewe was formed. Brett lives in the building where he grew up, formerly his family’s African Art Gallery, on Magazine street in uptown.

Brett’s Bio