Halloween is such a fun and exciting time of the year for many! Halloween offers the chance to dress up as your favorite characters, indulge in (too much) candy, enjoy seasonal activities, and decorate the house. But have you ever wondered where all the halloween costumes,
decorations, and candy wrappers end up? Some people may reuse their costumes, share them with friends, or donate them, but many people don’t. Most people just throw away their single- use costume where it ends up sitting in the landfill, adding to a concerning amount of waste.

In the United States, over 35 million costumes are discarded each year. That is roughly 2,000
tons of plastic waste, equivalent to 83 million plastic bottles. The majority of Halloween
costumes are made of plastic polymer or non-recyclable oil-based plastics, which means they
are destined to end up in landfills. Polyester can take anywhere between 20-200 years to
decompose. On top of all that, 4 out of 10 costumes are worn only once.
Despite all of these spooky statistics, there are many creative alternatives to help reduce
Halloween waste and still enjoy all the festivities! First, instead of buying a brand-new costume, check out any local thrift stores that sell costumes such as the Christian Center, Savers, and Deseret Industries. You may be able to find used costumes for a much cheaper price. You may also find unique pieces and materials to create your own DIY (do it yourself) costume! A costume I have made in the past was a jellyfish using an umbrella I already had at home, LED lights, and some ribbon I bought at a thrift store. This costume does not take long to create and I only used materials I already had at home or small items that I will use again in the future.

This idea was not only eco-friendly, but very creative and unique. Another idea of how to be more eco-friendly is by swapping costumes with friends and family. This way, you are reusing costumes instead of throwing them away. Or you can swap certain parts of a costume to create your own one-of-a-kind costume! Maybe you are done with a costume and don’t know where else to put it, you can donate it to a nearby school for them to
use in school plays, or at a local thrift store.

By Elly Swartz