If you produced bead necklaces by the millions, you might be able to sell them at only 2½ times the price of conventional plastic beads. Part of the problem is that the biodegradable material ...

But plastic beads weren’t always a part of Mardi Gras ... the child on the streets of New Orleans innocently sucking on his new necklace and young factory workers like Qui Bia are both exposed ...

Twenty years later, glass beads had been largely eliminated, replaced with less expensive, more durable plastic necklaces from Hong Kong, then elsewhere in the People’s Republic of China.

The beads are often cheap plastic necklaces that come in a variety of sizes, patterns, and shapes. And they are tossed from floats or walkers in the parade to those enthusiastically cheering from ...