The long afterlife of a one-use Halloween costume

SALT LAKE CITY — Shopping for Halloween begins months in advance, with consumers loading up on decorations, treats, party supplies and costumes. But in the days that follow the holiday, much of that seasonal splurge ends up in a pile of waste.

This year alone, Americans are expected to spend $13.5 billion on Halloween, according to the National Retail Federation. Of that total, costumes account for $4.4 billion, followed by decorations at $4.3 billion and candy at $4.1 billion.

Most store-bought Halloween costumes serve only a short-lived purpose — 4 in 10 are worn just once, according to Treehouse Kids.

"The process of making these, the Halloween costumes, it's incredible," Zack Bowersox, a senior lecturer in political science at Washington University in St. Louis who teaches a class on fast fashion and the environment, told the Associated Press.

Costumes are often constructed through heat bonding, with plastic or synthetic fabrics melted together with a thermal adhesive instead of being stitched together, he explained.

"After the season, they're not meant to even be thrifted or returned; they're just meant to be thrown away. And that's where most of them end up; it's in the landfill," Bowersox continued. "Something like 80% of those suits end up in the landfill."

Plastic-made costumes

Most costumes are constructed out of polyester — a synthetic petroleum-based material that tends to fall apart quickly and takes "anywhere from 20 to 200 years to decompose" in a landfill and contributes to environmental pollution, Lexy Silverstein, a sustainable fashion advocate, told Forbes.

These plastic costumes can also release microplastics when washed, Shelie Miller, a University of Michigan professor who studies the environmental impacts of products, told AP. Microplastics have been found in our food, water and even the human body, and people may ingest an estimated 22 million plastic particles each year, per the Deseret News.

But the environmental cost begins before these costumes reach buyers. Cheap, mass-produced clothing, like store-bought Halloween costumes, are responsible for for 8%-10% of global gas emissions, according to the United Nations.

Producing synthetic materials, like polyester, also requires an enormous amount of resources. The process uses an estimated 342 million barrels of oil each year, and another 43 million tons of chemicals per year, reports the BBC.

"Whenever we buy anything, we're not just buying the one thing; we're buying all of the environmental impacts of everything that went into making that product," Miller said.

"So whenever we're using any sort of single-use product, whether we're talking about single-use plastic or single-use costumes, we really have to be thinking about is this really how we want to spend our time, money, resources, and is there a better way?"

Halloween generates a mound of waste

Halloween has become the biggest "single-use" holiday of the year, creating more plastic waste than any other event in the United Kingdom, according to The Times.

"Each year, Americans discard 35 million costumes, creating more than 5 million kilograms of textile waste. This is equivalent to the weight of 83 million plastic bottles — a staggering environmental impact," Silverstein told Forbes.

According to Waste360, 2,079 tons of Halloween costume waste was sent to landfills in 2022, contributing to the 92 million tons of textile waste produced each year globally, per the United Nations.

"With Halloween growing in popularity every year, it's become synonymous with cheap, themed items," Hannah Rouch, a consumer expert, told The Times.

"With all of these items contributing to an already stretched landfill, we need to be reusing what we have and think second-hand first at all times of the year."

How to reduce, reuse and recycle this Halloween

Attending local Halloween swaps or exchanging costumes with friends and family are two ways to reduce waste this season.

Shoppers can also search for costume pieces at thrift stores and online secondhand marketplaces, borrow items from a friend's closet, upcycle previous costumes or repurpose household items. Renting is another option, with online costume rental services offering millions of high-quality options.

Lowering your environmental impact is "just as easy as asking your friends for a loan and offering to share what you have," Alison Linder, assistant sustainability coordinator at Occidental College, told AP. "And just by doing that simple thing, you save money and you're helping the environment."

Other ways to reduce Halloween's environmental impact include:

• Donating costumes after use, rather than tossing them in the trash
• Recycling plastic and paper bins, wrappers and decorations
• If you buy a costume, find one made from plant-based materials
• Trick-or-treat with reusable bags
• Use face paint rather than plastic face masks
• Buy reusable Halloween decorations

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