Santa Barbara Police remind public to throw away confetti ahead of Old Spanish Days

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Santa Barbara Police have reminded the public not to throw confetti in the trash ahead of the Old Spanish Days Fiesta.

Below you will find a press release from the SBPD:

The use of confetti in Santa Barbara’s parades and festivals is on the rise, both in the number of events that use confetti and the amount of confetti thrown. While confetti eggs, or cascarones, have long been a tradition at Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara, we now see large bags of confetti being sold and dumped on our sidewalks, streets and parks.

In addition to paper confetti, metallic confetti, sequins, glitter and party confetti are increasingly used at community events. These are all made of plastic and are often mistaken for food and eaten by birds and other animals. Confetti can easily be washed or blown into our sewers, streams and the sea, where it poses a danger to aquatic life and pollutes our environment.

If you’re partying in the city, we recommend choosing paper confetti and using it sparingly!

• Sewage canals flow untreated into our streams and the sea, polluting our streams, beaches and
• Confetti can be mistaken for food by birds, fish and other wildlife.
• Metallic confetti, sequins and glitter are all made of plastic, which is not biodegradable.
• Throwing confetti and leaving it lying around is rubbish!

Are you a dealer who makes cascarones for sale?

Please only use paper confetti (or leaves!) and do not decorate the outside of the eggs with plastic or foam decorations.

Would you like to help raise awareness of the problem of confetti waste?

Santa Barbara Police Department