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Ghost costume in graveyard
Ghost costume in graveyard
Photo by Reba Spike from Unsplash
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How To Recycle Your Costumes Now That Halloween Is Over

Gabby Diefenderfer
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at FSU chapter.

This was my last college Halloween experience, so I went all out. For my all-time favorite holiday since childhood, I had three costumes with varying spook levels. Since I decided to go out with a bang this year, I had more Halloween waste than normal. I’m always super passionate about reducing my waste levels and reusing things whenever I can to benefit myself and the environment. 

It’s tricky when it comes to Halloween. Usually, we buy very specific costumes that are hard to re-wear or repurpose at all, like, where are you going to wear a head-to-toe mummy costume after Nov. 1? It’s unfortunately unconventional (in my ideal world, it’d be socially acceptable to express ourselves and dress as our favorite characters every day).

Because of this common problem, I’m going to outline some plans I have to either reuse or repurpose all of the pieces of my costumes this year. Hopefully, you can find something useful!

What is Halloween waste?

Each year in the US, 35 million Halloween costumes are thrown away. No, not recycled; they end up in landfills. This practice becomes even worse for the environment when it’s noted that most of these costumes can take between 20 to 200 years to decompose. That’s a long time for clothing that’s only worn for a few hours at minimum, only to sit and quite literally rot. Sure, that sounds fitting for the holiday, but it’s not good for the planet at all.

How I’m combatting the problem

I usually DIY my costumes, meaning I take several articles of clothing and accessories to create them instead of buying a pre-packaged one at the Halloween store. This seems to be a pretty common practice in college, especially if the look you’re going for isn’t a popular one. 

This is step one of my process because it makes it easier to reuse each piece of my costumes for myself. When I put together each look, I try to either source the different parts from outfits I already wear or purchase items I think I can realistically wear regularly.  

For example, one of my costumes this year was Hello Kitty! I found my inspiration on Pinterest, of course, and it looked like an essential feature of the outfit was a pink skirt. I didn’t own one, so I had to find one online. When I was browsing through the different types of skirts, I stumbled upon a pink tennis skirt. Though I might just be the least athletic person ever (I get all my exercise in when I have to cross campus several times per day, and that’s enough for me), I’ve had my eye on tennis skirts all year. They’re pretty trendy and have always looked super comfortable to me, so this was my grand opportunity to invest in a new outfit!

what happens after Halloween?

Being realistic, that strategy didn’t work for every single part of each of my costumes. There were more obscure outfits I definitely didn’t have in my closet or would ever wear in everyday life (perfect example: I was also Remy from Ratatouille this year, and there’s no use for rat ears while walking around campus). In this case, I have a few ways that I plan on giving these items a new home that’s not a landfill.

One of the quickest and easiest options is to donate costumes to an organization, such as ‘Ween Dream, which stores them in New Orleans until the following Halloween. Starting in August of the next year, families in need can apply to get free Halloween outfits from the nonprofit. Plus, there are several other organizations like this, and I plan on looking into more post-Halloween donation initiatives!

Another course of action, definitely a more creative one, is quite literally upcycling pieces of costumes. A long, flowing Morticia Addams dress may be unconventional for walking around campus, but it can easily be transformed into a set or shorter dress perfect for spring. Upcycling costumes and physically turning them into something else can serve as a fun activity to create something entirely new to wear!

In the immediate aftermath of Halloween, these are the few options I’m looking at to completely reduce my contribution to the holiday’s costume waste! This way, I can save the spooks for Halloween itself rather than worrying about my impact on the planet. 

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Gabby Diefenderfer is a staff writer at Florida State University’s Her Campus chapter. She writes for all categories, including culture, lifestyle, and campus. Outside of Her Campus, Gabby served as the editor-in-chief of the FSU Collegiate Merchandising Association’s blog from 2023-2024, managing a team of writers covering fashion, wellness, and pop culture articles. She is currently a senior at Florida State University, double majoring in Psychology and Creative Writing. Gabby’s biggest passions are mental health awareness and music. You can find her playing piano, guitar, or reading a cozy book when she’s not studying. She’s also a huge Lana del Rey fan.